Her Heartbeat
by Stessa
Summary: -He could feel her heart beating. He could hear her breathing. He could feel her hand safely tucked in his own. What the cause of her collapse was, he didn't know. And how she ended up there, he didn't know. But he wanted her out- A Troypay story.
1. Trailer

_Hi you guys! This is a trailer for a story I'm thinking about starting up. All you really have to do is read this and tell me if you want to read more. Deal ?_

_**Disclaimer; **Yeah, let me check if I own High School Musical… Hm, no I don't! Big surprise there.

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**Bold is voiceover. **_Italics are actions. _Regular is regular.

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**Ever got the feeling that something just wasn't right?**

_Shows Troy looking at Sharpay, sitting across from him in the cafeteria. _

**That someone was hiding something?**

_Shows Sharpay popping two pills into her mouth. _

**That there was more to the deal than just the deal?**

_Shows Troy and Sharpay talking._

"The Evans Twins not signing up for an audition? What happened!?"

**Do you?**

_Shows Sharpay and Troy walking in the park with Brooke and Ben. _

**What happens when things start to come clear, and the truth is more than you can manage?**

_Shows Sharpay lying on a white bed, getting an injection in her arm. _

**It will be a fight for her heart, literally. **

_Shows Sharpay and Ryan singing, but Sharpay suddenly stops, and places a hand on her heart. _

_Ryan rushes to her. _

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

_Shows Sharpay collapse. _

**But will love be strong enough?**

_Shows Troy sitting by Sharpay's bed, holding her hand. _

"You know I love you, I know you do!"

**Zac Efron**

_Shows Troy talking to Becca and Matt. _

**Ashley Tisdale**

_Shows Sharpay looking at Zeke, a weird look in her eyes, awkwardly squeezing Brooke's hand. _

**And Lucas Grabeel**

_Shows Ryan talking to Mrs. Darbus. _

**When time is short, and life is long, you sometimes need to take a breather…**

_Shows Sharpay leaning against the wall in the hallway, sliding her back down it. Resting herself against the wall. _

**But when time is short, and life is too, there isn't always time**

"Look, I don't need this! I have a lot to do!"

**Just take a look at what you have, isn't it good enough?**

_Shows Brooke running down the stairs, tears in her eyes._

**Her Heartbeat **

"Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**"

**Coming soon.

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_Okay, so this was my first trailer like ever, and it's awful, but I just thought it might be fun to try and write one. If you don't like the trailer, please read my story anyway, because I think it'll be way better than the trailer. I usually write good stories. Anyway, leave me a review. And the first chapter of this should be up as soon as I'm finished with my other story. Which will be soon. _

_**Tootles, **Stessa :) _


	2. Chapter 1

_Hi you guys! Thanks for the reviews for my trailer. Here is the first chapter._

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical, but I do own the idea for this story, and I'm proud :p_

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**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 1. **

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Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Sharpay woke up to the padding of bare feet entering her room.

She knew who it was, but she didn't want to be easy to wake. It was always fun playing with little Brooke, because she got so scared when Sharpay didn't wake up.

She always believed life had been taken away from her.

"Pay…?" a soft voice breathed right next to her ear, calming her rapidly beating heart. It always did that in the morning. Beat like hell.

"Pay?" she spoke again, this time brushing her fingers softly over Sharpay's cheek.

Sharpay tried hard not to smile. It was tough though, because she loved that little girl so damn much, and she just wanted to sit up and grab her. And tickle her to death.

But she loved teasing her too.

"Sharpay!?" Brooke squealed, her voice getting higher, "Are you there? Sharpay!?"

Sharpay didn't respond. She took a silent breath, trying not to let Brooke notice.

"Sharpay?!"

This time Brooke started shaking her. She placed her little hands on her shoulders and started shaking. _Hard_.

When nothing happened, the little girl took a step back, a scared look in her eyes. She looked at Sharpay for about a minute, but then she turned around and stumbled downstairs; "Mommy!?" she yelled, "Mommy! Sharpay's not moving!"

Sharpay immediately knew she'd crossed the line, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

She sighed and sat up in her bed, getting ready for the outburst, she knew was coming.

She heard feet move up the stairs, reaching her bedroom, and ten seconds later she found Becca Evans in the doorway, with Brooke behind her. The little girl had tears streaming down her face, and a horrid look in her eyes.

"Sharpay Evans!" Becca yelled, stamping into the bedroom, "You gave me a _fright_! What have I said about doing this? It's not fair!"

"Sorry." Sharpay mumbled, looking at her hands, ashamed. Then she looked up and caught Brooke's eyes, "Come here, Brookey. I'm sorry, you want a hug?"

Brooke nodded, sniffing her tears a little. She stepped into Sharpay's open arms and Sharpay dried her tears away, "You don't have to get so scared, Brooke. I'm only messing with you, you know I love to do that, right?"

"But I cant help it…" Brooke said, her voice small, "I love you Pay, I wont have you dead. I'm gonna be so sad."

Sharpay smiled, adored by the little girl with so many thoughts in her head, "Oh, but I wont die." She promised, "I'll be here with you many years from now."

"How many?" Brooke asked with big, brown eyes, which reminded Sharpay so much of her own, "250 years yet?"

"Of course!" Sharpay said, "I'll easy reach 250 years! I have a health better than anyone."

"You promise?" Brooke pouted.

"I promise." Sharpay smiled and hugged the little girl.

"All right you two." Becca interrupted, "Breakfast is ready, and I think Ryan mentioned something about going to school early, Shar."

Sharpay looked at Becca, surprised, "Really? Did he say why?"

"Something about an audition sign-up…" Becca said, not really sure of anything, "I think he needed to speak to Mrs. Darbus because the dance Kelsi required isn't one you're capable of doing, so he wanted to hear if it was ok for the two of you to do something else."

"Oh…" Sharpay's face fell, "I'll just shower quickly then." She looked at Brooke again, love in her eyes, "I love you Brookey, you're aunt Pay's favourite girl, right?"

Brooke nodded and followed her mother down the stairs.

Sharpay stood up and went into the bathroom across the hall from her own room. She looked at herself in the mirror, placing a shaking hand on her beating heart. She took a deep breath a held it there. It usually calmed her down.

It did.

She smiled at herself, that glimpse in her eye. She bend down and found the drawer with the label which said ´Sharpay´.

She opened it, and looked at her pills.

"It's Monday…" she told herself, "I need that one, and… that one." She snapped the two boxes and opened each of them. Then she let two pills pop out and placed them by the sink. She found her cup and filled it water.

Taking the pills into her mouth, and a sip of water, she smiled at herself in the mirror again, and swallowed.

Taking off her clothes, she stepped into the warm shower.

--

She threw her bag by the entrance to the kitchen and waltzed inside, sitting on one of the chairs.

"Morning Shar!" Ryan greeted, a huge bite of toast in his mouth.

"Close your mouth Ryan!" Matt said, "You're gonna give Brooke and Ben some bad habits."

Ryan smiled apologetic to the 35 year old man and nodded, "Sorry, Matt."

Sharpay giggled and ruffled Ben's hair, "Morning Benny boy, how are we today?"

The 4 year old smiled and looked at her with bright eyes, "I'm good Pay."

"That's good to know." Sharpay smiled and kissed his head. She turned to Ryan and looked at him; "What was that about the audition?"

"Uhm," Ryan paused and swallowed his mouthful, "I just got the dance moves from Kelsi, Shar, and… And I wont let you do them. They're too much exercise."

"Oh…" Sharpay paused, "But I haven't seen them, and I'm the one who will be most qualified to make that decision."

"No, Sharpay…" Matt interrupted, "I looked at it last night, I wont let you do it either."

"Me neither." Becca said, not even looking up from the lunch boxes she was making for her kids.

Sharpay sighed and rolled her eyes. They knew how to handle this. If she was the last one to know, they could deny her. She didn't want to argue though, so she looked at Matt; "Ok, you win. But I need you to sign this too, Matt." She handed him a piece of paper.

"Oh," Matt said, finding a pen, "A note to pass gym. I see doc. G has already signed this."

"Yeah," Sharpay mumbled, "Along with all the other ten thousand I have in my desk drawer."

"There you go." Matt smiled and handed her the note.

"We need to go." Ryan said, placing his cup and knife in the sink.

"Yeah," Sharpay said and stood up too. No-one commented on her not eating a bite, since it was a normal sight in the Evan's House. Sharpay wasn't very hungry in the morning.

"Have a good day!" Becca waved, by the slam of the door.

--

"Mrs. Darbus?" Ryan questioned, knocking awkwardly on the doorframe to the classroom.

Mrs. Darbus looked up and smiled by the sight of one of her favourite students, "Oh Ryan! Don't stand there! Come grace me with your presence!"

Ryan nodded and slowly made his way towards Mrs. Darbus, who was currently writing something in her book, "I needed to ask you something about the audition."

"Yes," Mrs. Darbus said, "I assume your dear sister and you will show us all what show business is?"

"Actually…" Ryan said, "It's about the dance moves Kelsi has required. We wont be able to do them, so I was hoping it was ok to do something else?"

Mrs. Darbus looked up, a surprised look covering her features; "Why not, Ryan? Dance moves have never been a problem for the two of you?"

"Well…" Ryan trailed off, not knowing how to put it, "Those dance moves weren't the same as these ones. We can't do them, for a lot of reasons, it's really too much exercise."

"Too much exercise for what?"

"I can't say." Ryan said, "But can we? Can we do something else?"

"I'm sorry, Ryan." Mrs. Darbus said, "But Kelsi decides it, after all, it is her musical. If you can't do the dance she wants, then you can't audition."

"But, Mrs. Darbus-"

"Enough said, Ryan!" she hollered, "That's the way it is. But there's always the singles audition. There's no dance moves there."

"Yes, Mrs. Darbus." Ryan whispered, slowly leaving the classroom.

Mrs. Darbus followed him with her eyes, wondering what was up with him. The Evans twins never let down an audition.

--

"Are you ready, Gabby?" Taylor questioned, tying her shoes.

"Yup, two seconds." Gabriella said, just finishing bracing her hair.

"C'mon, hurry!" Taylor giggled, dragging Gabriella with her into the gym. It was gym class now. Girls only.

Taylor looked around, there wasn't many of the girls in this class who exactly loved gym. Taylor herself wouldn't say that she hated it, she simply used the phrasing ´least favourite´. That worked anyway. She stopped her thoughts when Sharpay caught her eye. She was sitting on a bench by the entrance, starring into space.

Taylor nudged Gabriella between the ribs, "Gabby!?"

"Yeah?" Gabriella said, a huge smile on her lips, "What's up, Tay?"

"Do you ever wonder why Sharpay only has gym class, like… 2 times a year?"

Gabriella looked at Sharpay, not understanding why Taylor suddenly found that interesting, "I don't know." she honestly said, "I bet she probably just gets her dad to write a note for her."

"Hmm, no." Taylor said, shaking her head, "She can't do that. It's only accepted 4 times a year, otherwise you need to have it signed by a doctor."

"Well, then she probably paid her doctor to sign it." Gabriella said, rolling her eyes, "Why does this suddenly matter, Taylor?"

"Well…" Taylor trailed off, biting her lip, "I just find it odd. I mean… To get out of gym you need a really good reason."

"She _has_ a good reason, Tay!" Gabriella said, "She don't want to ruin her nails."

Taylor ignored Gabriella's remark, and watched as their teacher talked to Sharpay. They both smiled and nodded, as Mr. Damon (their teacher) read the note, and gave Sharpay a reassuring smile.

Sharpay laughed at that point, and leaned back against the wall, as Mr. Damon approached the part of the class which were having gym.

"Okay!" he said, "Let's get started!"

--

Troy looked around the cafeteria, taking everything in.

The world was new for him. It was like his eyes had opened up again. He was allowed to talk to girls, to check them out.

He was glad that he had finally broken things off with Gabriella.

She had been so annoying towards the end. Incredibly jealous, and on his back all day long. She was there during basketball practise, she wanted to be together everyday after school, leaving Troy with no time for his buddies.

She had been sweet, smart, beautiful and all, but he couldn't say that he was sad that it was over.

The only thing he was sad about, was not having a girlfriend, but that could easily happen again.

He was more confident now.

He shot a look towards the table where all the cheerleaders were sitting, and shot them one of his charming smiles. They all immediately broke into giggles.

"Checking out the fields again, huh Bolton!?"

Troy turned around and came face to face with none other than the Ice Queen. "Yeah," he said, "I'm allowed to do that now."

"I wasn't being judgemental." Sharpay defended, "I was just thinking how sorry I would be for those girls if you got your hands on one of them!"

Troy ignored her, and decided to change the subject, "What are you doing here, anyway?" he crossed his arms, "You girls have gym class now."

"Yeah well," she took a seat next to him and gave him one of her rare smiles, "I'm not having gym today, and Mr. Damon felt bad for me, having to sit there and watch the other girls have _so much fun._ When sadly I'm not aloud to do gym."

Troy laughed at her clear dismay for their gym teacher and his words. It was fun how she would make fun of him, and not be bothered at all.

"And then he suggested I do some homework at the library." Sharpay continued, "Uhm, _excuse_ me; not gonna happen!"

Troy laughed again, "Why don't you have gym?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out, Bolton." Sharpay said, giving him one of those glares that clearly said, ´But you never will!´.

"All right then." Troy bit his lip, "So, are you and Ryan signing up for the next audition?"

Sharpay looked at her hands and then up and him, clearly not comfortable "I don't know." she admitted.

Troy paused, "What?" . He must have heard incorrectly, "The Evans Twins not signing up for an audition? What happened!?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "It's just the dance Kelsi wants the pairs to do. Apparently Ryan doesn't think I can manage."

"You?!" Troy exclaimed, "Sharpay Evans; not able to manage? Well, there's some news."

Sharpay giggled a little, "Yeah, we'll see. If I get the last word, we will be doing the audition." She stood up and flopped her hair over her shoulder, "See you later, Troy. Tootles!"

She casually waved at him, and slandered out of the cafeteria.

And Troy found himself unable not to watch her leave.

--

Sharpay threw herself on her bed, her heart beating rapidly.

She breathed in and out, trying to steady herself.

She really shouldn't play hide and seek with Brooke and Ben – she only got herself into trouble. She just couldn't say no to them. They really had a power over her, that she didn't like.

Well, better them than someone else, that was for sure.

She turned around so she was resting on her stomach, and buried her head in her pillow. She took a deep breath and screamed into it, hoping that no-one would hear her.

Sometimes she just needed to get it all out.

She didn't have a bad life. Far from, but sometimes she just wished that she could be like everybody else. That she could have a normal life, and not live in a bubble.

She just hoped that the bubble would burst one day, with a call of the phone.

But until then – she'd have to stay safe in her bubble, rapped in lots of layers.

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_Okay, so now I need you to move your lazy fingers and tell me what you think. You know, the review thingy? Yeah, I really need you to do that, since I need to know if I should continue this or not. I have the whole story in mind, so if you want to read it, it's pretty much just to write it. Please, tell me what you think?_

_**Tootles, **Stessa x3 _


	3. Chapter 2

_Hey! Thanks for the reviews ! ;p They made me smile. I care to share; so here we go: I hurt my foot today during gym class, so my mom has put some ice on it, wanting me to rest, but I insisted on sitting with my laptop to write, so I sit in a very uncomfortable position. _

_**Disclaimer; **I do not own High School Musical._

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**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 2.**

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Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

So the bad news had gotten to her.

She was clutching her pillow with both hands, her knuckles getting white, screaming her anger out. Her head was buried into the mess, making sure no-one could hear her. She didn't want to worry Brooke or Ben, and she didn't want to get Becca on her back, telling her she was interrupting something.

All she really wanted to do was get a big cry.

Too bad that she had no-one to call, or no-one to talk to.

She just really needed a friend sometimes. A friend who wasn't her brother, someone to chat with. And it would be nice if it was a female friend.

"Okay, Sharpay! That's enough!" Ryan yelled, ripping her pillow away from her, "You're gonna smother yourself!"

Sharpay turned around, her hands quickly going for the pillow again, but with no luck, "Give it back, Ryan! You can't tell me what to do!"

"Sharpay, this is not good for you!" Ryan said, throwing the pillow behind his back, "One day you're gonna hurt yourself. What is the matter anyway?"

"Get away from me, Ryan!" Sharpay said, pushing him against the door, "Leave me the hell alone!"

"Fine!" Ryan said, picking up her pillow, "But I'm taking this with me!"

She shot him an evil glance and he hurried out the room.

"How did it go?" Matt asked him.

"Not good!" Ryan said, "I think you should let Becca talk to her. She wont tell me what's wrong, so it must be something involving me."

"I'll talk to her." Matt said. He slowly approached the door, and went in – no knocking.

Sharpay immediately turned around, ready to yell at Ryan for coming back, but paused when she found Matt in the door.

"Listen…" he said, closing the door behind him. He took a step towards Sharpay who was sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face, "What is wrong, Sharpay? You need to tell me?"

She looked at him as he kneed down in front of her, "Why can't I go, Matt?" she asked, a bunch of new tears spilling out of her eyes, "Why can't I do the audition? Please, I can manage."

Matt sighed and looked at her, "Sharpay… You're doing your best right now, but I can't take that risk with you. If something went wrong, you'd end up in the hospital for God knows how long. We can't let that happen, and you know it."

"But it's just one tiny little dance…" Sharpay said, her eyes begging him.

He tried the best he could not to look into the brown of her eyes. He knew that if he did so, he'd end up giving in to her. She had that power over him, just like Brooke. It was probably a girl thing. Becca had those eyes too, but both Ryan and Ben had blue eyes.

"You know I can't, Sharpay." Matt said, shaking her head, "But if you want to, I can call doc. G and ask him one more time if it could be ok? Do you want me to do that?"

"No!" Sharpay said, "I want you to let me do it."

"But I can't, and you know that." Matt said.

"Why are you acting so much older than me?" Sharpay questioned, "You're only like 20 years older than me."

"And that's enough!" Matt said, tempting to get up, "Come down soon. Dinner is almost ready."

Sharpay sighed and waved him off. She didn't want him to call doc. G. She wanted him to tell her it was ok! To tell her she could do it! She looked around, searching for something to scream her anger into, when her eyes caught her sweatshirt. She grabbed it and threw herself at her bed again.

That was the beginning of another screaming-session.

--

"You're gonna be a good girl today, right?" Sharpay asked, looking expectantly into Ben's eyes. "You're not gonna be trouble, no?"

"No!" Ben smiled, placing his hands on her cheeks, "I'll be a good boy for Paypay, if Paypay is a good girl for me?"

"I'm always a good girl." Sharpay smiled, kissing his hair. "Now, you go have fun, okay?"

"Okay!" the 4 year old ran off in the other direction and Sharpay stood up to put his name into the book for the day. When she was done, she grabbed Brooke's hand and went for the door to leave the preschool.

It was 7:30. She had to drop Brooke of too at her school and then head her own school. It was a good thing that she had a car. Well, she wouldn't be able to walk anyway.

"He is worried about you." Brooke smiled, "We heard you yesterday."

"What yesterday?" Sharpay asked, already knowing what she was talking about.

"When you were screaming and crying." Brooke said, "What was wrong? Mom wouldn't tell me."

Sharpay squeezed her hand and looked in her purse for her car keys with the other, "It was nothing serious, Brookey, I was just a little sad, that's all."

"Oh…" Brooke's face fell.

Sharpay cursed, hating her life. Where did she put those damn keys? She bend down and started pulling all the stuff out of her bag, hoping to find the keys that way.

"Are you looking for these?"

Sharpay looked up to find someone holding her keys. She quickly stood up and grabbed them, "Thank you."

"Sharpay!?"

Suddenly Sharpay realized who it was; "Zeke? Hi. What are you doing here?"

Zeke paused for a second, and scratched his head. Did Sharpay just say hi? "Uhm…" he began, "I was dropping my sister off. What- what are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Sharpay giggled, "I was dropping Ben off. And that's Brooke over there."

Zeke turned his head and found a miniature version of Sharpay smiling at him with big eyes, "Hi!"

"Uhm, hi."

Sharpay bend down again and started stuffing all her stuff into her purse again, thankful that she hadn't thrown her keys away for good.

"So, how do you know Paypay?" Brooke asked.

"Eh…" Zeke didn't know what to say.

"We go to the same school." Sharpay smiled, and stood up. She took Brooke's hand, and awkwardly looked at Zeke. "So?"

"Uhm…" Zeke tried to say something, "I- I don't know what to say. I hadn't expected you here."

Sharpay laughed, "No me neither, it was an emergency; I had to take them." She smiled at him, "But I'll see you later Zeke, I've got to drop Brooke off too soon, or else I'll be late for school."

"Yeah, okay…" Zeke mumbled.

Sharpay awkwardly waved at him and locked open her white car. She went in, and made sure that Brooke was safely tucked in her seatbelt, before gassing up and driving off.

Back was Zeke, looking after the car, stunned.

He didn't even know that Sharpay had younger siblings.

--

"All right, be quiet, everyone!"

The class immediately stopped chatting as Mr. Brown wanted them to. Sharpay bit her lip and rolled her eyes, seeing what he had written on the blackboard.

"Today we'll be talking about all the different kind of jobs you can have." Mr. Brown smiled, "As I already wrote here. There's a lot to talk about, so I figured we'd start by telling each other what our parents do. That could be a good start."

Sharpay sighed, and sunk into her seat, wishing Ryan was in this class too. Then she wouldn't have to tell them herself.

"So, Mr. Bolton, you can begin." Mr. Brown said, "Of course we already know what your father does."

Troy shot him one of his smiles, and nodded, "Yup. My mom has been a housewife for a long time now, but she wants a job at the Albuquerque Hospital again. She used to work there before, but then she took some time off because she had me. But now she wants to come back. She's a nurse."

"_Really_?" Sharpay exclaimed, before she could even stop herself. She then looked around, "I mean... really?"

"Yeah?" Troy said, "What's with that?"

"It's just…" Sharpay turned around to look at him, "If she hasn't worked as a nurse in what? 15 years…? Then she'll need all sort of courses before she's allowed to work again. A lot change in 15 years, Bolton."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Troy asked, squeezing his eyebrows together.

"Well…" Sharpay began, "It's others peoples health we're talking about, sometimes their lives. Do you have any idea of how much things have changed since 15 years ago? They've gotten like a gazillion new machines and all. Things are up-beat, Bolton."

"How do you know that stuff?" Taylor asked.

"Well, if you must now McKessie," Sharpay said, "Then… I still wont tell you." she turned around again, and looked expectantly at Mr. Brown.

"Well," he said, "Ms. Evans is right, Ms. McKessie. A lot has changed in a job like that during this time. Nurses and doctors have to take courses and such things all the time to keep up. And it's also one of the reasons they get such a high salary."

"Who was your mom gonna work for anyway, Bolton?" Sharpay smirked, wanting to rub it in his face that she was right.

"Doctor Emanuel Geller." Troy replied.

"What!?" Sharpay exclaimed, turning around in her chair to shoot him a death glare, "Doc. G?"

"You know him?"

"Hmm, no…" Sharpay quickly said, turning around in her chair again.

Mr. Brown looked at her, "Well, Ms. Evans, since you're talking so much, _for once_, why don't you tell us what your parents do for a living?"

Sharpay looked at him, questions in her eyes, "I don't think that will be possible, Mr. Brown."

"And why not?"

"Because my parents are dead."

"They're what?" Mr. Brown said, "They're dead?"

"Yes," Sharpay said, like that was the most ordinary thing in the world, "They died when I was 3 years old."

"I never knew that!" Troy exclaimed from behind, "How come you've never told us?"

"Well, you haven't asked, have you?" Sharpay said, looking at him.

"But you just said you were dropping your sister and brother off today?" Zeke pointed out, "They cant have been born before your parents died."

"I never said they were my siblings." Sharpay smiled at him, "I just told you that they were Brooke and Ben."

"Then who do you live with, ms. Evans?" Mr. Brown asked.

"Ryan and I live with our 17 years older sister. She's married and has two kids. Which by the way are Brooke and Ben."

"Well, then what does she and her husband do for a living?"

"Becca is at home, taking care of important things, and Matt is a lawyer." Sharpay told them.

"How's your economy?" Mr. Brown asked, "With four kids and only one working?"

"Well, it's okay. Mom and dad's life insurance pays for practically everything. The house we live in was in the will for me, the cars and everything for Ryan, and all the stocks were for Becca. We pretty much live off the money from mom and dad, and the stuff Matt's work gets us, is for hospitals and such."

"Okay." Mr. Brown said, "So, now we have three jobs up for discussion. Nurse, Coach and lawyer. Will you tell us about your parents then, Mr. Baylor?"

Zeke nodded and begun telling about his father's job.

Troy kept looking at Sharpay, wondering how it could be possible that he never knew that her parents were dead. It was a pretty huge shock, it seemed like no-one knew. But then again, what did they know about Sharpay and Ryan Evans? They were one big mystery.

She had really not been secrecy about it. She would probably have told him right away if he'd asked, she wasn't trying to hide anything.

Her parents were dead, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Troy liked the way her mind worked.

--

"Pretty please, Ryan!" Sharpay begged, looking at the sign-up list, "Pretty please with sugar on the top!"

"No, Sharpay!" Ryan said, shaking his head, "You're not gonna convince me this time. I don't want you to end up in bed again."

"But I wont end up in bed!" Sharpay said, "I can manage this dance. I'm doing really well right now."

"Yeah, and that's why we don't want to ruin it with a kick-back."

"C'mon, Ry!" Sharpay squealed, "If you don't say yes I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna what, Shar?" Ryan asked, "Tell Matt and Becca that you're forcing me to say yes to you?"

"No!" she said, stamping her foot into the floor, "I'm gonna scream!" she opened her mouth and started to take a deep breath, her eyes telling him that it was his last change.

Ryan quickly reached up and closed her mouth with his hands, "Ok, ok, okay!" he then gave in, "If you promise me not to tell Matt and Becca. You should be able to do this the way things are now.

"Really?" Sharpay's face lit up.

"Yes, really." Ryan said, smirking at her, "But after your visit with doc. G, you have to tell me if things have gotten worse, because then I wont let you do it, okay?"

"Okay."

"You promise?"

"I promise!" Sharpay said, jumping in and hugging him. When she pulled away, she quickly grabbed a pen from her purse and scribbled their names at the sign-up list. "We're auditioning!" she squealed.

"Yeah right, Shar." Ryan smiled.

"I love you, Ryan."

"I love you too."

--

"Can you pass me the milk, Paypay?" Brooke asked, pointing at it.

Sharpay smiled and handed her the milk, "Sure."

"Who was that boy?" Brooke then asked.

Sharpay was confused, "Boy?"

"Yeah, _boy_?" Becca's face lit up. She was getting interested.

"That boy we met at preschool." Brooke smiled, "He was sweet, he found your keys."

"Oh," Sharpay waved her hand casually in front of her face, "That was Zeke Baylor. I go to school with him."

"Isn't he the baker's son?" Matt asked.

Sharpay nodded, "Yup, that's him. Zeke is a very talented baker too. His cookies are awesome."

"Yeah, Sharpay almost had a thing for him when she tasted them." Ryan said.

"I did not!" Sharpay protested, "I just liked his cookies a lot."

Ryan chuckled, "And his lips."

"We didn't even kiss!" Sharpay said, "We went out once, and then I realized that I just couldn't go out with him. I was just bummed right there because we didn't get the leads and all."

"So you don't like him anymore?" Becca asked.

Sharpay shook her head.

"Damn!" Becca teased, "And I who thought we'd get to have some awkward conversations and act all parent-y soon. Just to practise until Brooke will be a heartbreaker."

"What?" Brooke asked, her tomato soup spilling out of her mouth.

"Well," Matt sarcastically said, "She does seem right on track to become one."

Becca and Ryan laughed, while Sharpay shot Matt a dead glare, and padded Brooke's back. "How did you think you looked when you were young?" she snapped.

Matt got serious, "Okay…" he replied, "So we don't get to meet any boyfriends from either of you?"

"Hey!" Ryan exclaimed, "I'm not gay! I just like to explore my feminine sides."

"Sure." Becca said.

"No, it's true." Sharpay defended Ryan, "I think I'd know if my own twin brother was gay."

"Thank you, Shar." Ryan said, "And besides, there's actually a girl that I like, and she just got available again." He stood up, casually, and placed his plate in the sink, and then he slowly left the room.

"What!?" Becca yelled after him, "Are you just gonna leave us hanging!?"

Sharpay giggled. She loved their evenings. They always had such a great time when they had dinner. And she and Ryan could tell Matt and Becca everything. Things they wouldn't have felt comfortable telling their parents. They all joked around with each other, and teased one another. It was just great.

"Do you know who it is, Shar?" Matt asked, breaking her thoughts.

"Who is what?" Sharpay asked.

"The guy, whoop, sorry; I mean _girl_, that Ryan likes?"

Sharpay looked thoughtful for awhile, but couldn't come up with someone. Who had just broken up with their boyfriend? Or who had just been dumped… Then it hit her!; "Gabriella Montez."

"Really?" Becca asked, "That girl who stole the leads from you? Along with her boyfriend?"

"Yup," Sharpay said, "That's her, and Troy just dumped her."

"Really…" Becca trailed off.

Sharpay thanked her for dinner and was about to leave the room when Matt stopped her:

"Remember your appointment with doc. G tomorrow, Shar. You want one of us to go with you?"

Sharpay froze, "No." she said, shaking her head, "I'll go by myself. Is it right after school?"

"No, it's during, but I'll write you a note."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Sure."

Then she left the kitchen and found her room. She threw herself on the bed and sighed hard. Her chest hurt, but she wasn't about to tell them, they'd just freak out and call doc. G now, and there was no point doing that, when she'd be going there the next day.

Sharpay turned around and looked at the ceiling for awhile.

God!

If Ryan liked Gabriella, then maybe, just maybe… Sharpay could get Troy.

* * *

_Yeah, I know, not the greatest chapter, but I'll be back with more soon. Not tomorrow though, because I have to work, well, if my foot will let me!? Anyway, this chapter wasn't too exciting, but things will soon start… This story will probably not be as long as "When Will They See?", but it'll still be some chapters. Anyway, I wont promise something I cant keep. Just review me, please? Thanks ;p **Tootles, **Stessa H. _


	4. Chapter 3

_Hi to you all. You guys are so amazing. You just review me all the time, and I'm grateful for that. That is what keeps me writing, and such. I know it sounds corny, but it is the truth. And so here is the next chapter. I know I said I wouldn't be able to update because I had work today, but my stupid foot wouldn't let me go, and it wouldn't let me go to school either, so I have plenty of time._

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical.

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 3. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Sharpay sighed and threw herself by her desk in homeroom.

Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, it was really getting on her nerves. It was like, it begged her to go lie down. Well, too bad. She was at school, so that was not an opportunity. She slowly reached her hand up and placed it on her chest, hoping the heat would calm it down, but with no luck.

Instead of getting calmer, it started beating faster when she caught Troy looking at her.

_Great_, Sharpay thought to herself, _he must think I'm some freak now._

She turned around, still with a hand on her chest, and starred right into Ryan's angry eyes.

"What are you doing, Shar?" he asked.

"Uhm…" she didn't know what to say, "I was just… playing... with my necklace." She smiled, brushing her neck, but then she paused, "And then was when I realized that I didn't wear a necklace today."

"Do you feel bad, Shar?" Ryan asked, his voice low, "Because if you do, you should go home and lie down. You know what doc. G told you. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"I know," Sharpay replied, placing her hands on the table, taking his, "But it's not that bad. And I'm going to see him today, so I'll get a check up. Nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Okay." Ryan said. He let go of her hands and brushed past her to his own seat.

Sharpay opened her purse and quickly went through it, looking for the note Matt had written her this morning. She'd just hand it to Mrs. Darbus, even though it was during math she wouldn't be there. When she found it, she stood up and approached Mrs. Darbus. "Mrs. Darbus?"

Mrs. Darbus looked up, a smile on her face with the sight of her favourite student, "Oh, Sharpay dear. What can I do for you?"

"I need to have some time off today." Sharpay explained, handing her the note, "Matt wrote it all there."

Mrs. Darbus looked at the note, and read it, a frown forming on her face. When she was done, she looked up, questions in her eyes, "Why do you need to go to the doctor?"

"It's just a routine check-up." Sharpay said. It really wasn't a lie, because it was a check-up, just not the kind of check-up that Mrs. Darbus imagined.

"Well then," Mrs. Darbus said, "It's a little stupid that it's during school, but I know how doctors can be. Of course you can go, Sharpay."

"Thank you, Mrs. Darbus!" Sharpay smiled. She turned around to find her seat again, when Mrs. Darbus' voice stopped her.

"I see you've decided to sign up for the audition anyway?"

Sharpay turned around, "Yeah, we have." She paused, "We'll have to rehearse the dance during the weekend, and then we'll be ready to audition Monday."

"That's good to know." Mrs. Darbus said, "Because what would I do without my star students?"

Sharpay shot her one of her fabulous Hollywood-smiles, and found her seat again.

--

She was flipping through a magazine, not really reading anything. She just loved to look at the pictures. She loved to check out what was in, or what was the newest hairstyle? It was all a part of being popular, you had to go with the flow, but still manage to be yourself.

Sharpay hated that.

Why couldn't people just be themselves, and still be popular? She hated the fact that if you wore some kind of clothes, or had glasses then you weren't cool. _(A/N – no offence to people with glasses, it's not my opinion, it's my story's ;p My best friend has glasses)_

It wasn't like she wanted to waste her time by being something she wasn't, but she didn't want to waste her time by not being popular either. She wished she could be both, because then she could be Sharpay.

She looked up as her name was called, and threw the magazine at the little table next to the chair, she'd been sitting in. She had always hated waiting rooms, but after some time she got used to them. She still hated the smell of hospitals though.

She slowly made her way across the floor, and through the hall, until she reached doctor Gellar's door. She knocked at it, just like always. She hated all this crap. She hated check-ups, she hated pills and she hated doctor Gellar.

No, she didn't hate him. He was actually a quite nice person. Always sweet and joking around. Plus, the nurse who helped him was male, and really good-looking. Too bad he was quitting. Sharpay knew who was gonna be there instead. Troy Bolton's mom. Could things _get_ any better?

By the que of his voice, Sharpay opened the door, and stepped into the white room. The smell of drugs and only God knows what more, hit her like a train, and she almost wanted to step right back out.

"Well, long time no see, Sharpay." Doctor Gellar smiled, and took her hand to shake it.

"Hi, doc. G." Sharpay smiled, "Nice to see you."

Doctor Gellar dropped her hand, and showed her to the bed by the door. "Well, well, Sharpay," he began, "First; tell me how you've been doing since last month?"

Sharpay knew she couldn't lie to him, because no matter what, the tests they were going to do after, would tell him how she was, so she might as well do it herself, "I've been better." She begun, "These last couple of days my heart has been beating faster and faster, and it stings sometimes. I _have_ been taking my pills and all."

"Okay…" doctor Gellar got a serious look on his face, "Hmm, I'll have to run some tests then. You know I'd have to do it anyway, so stop pretending that you're surprised."

Sharpay giggled, and lay back down on the bed. She really liked doctor Gellar, he wasn't just a doctor. He had been her doctor since they figured something was wrong when she was around 4 years old. She was close dieing back then. Her heart almost stopped.

The nurses and doctors didn't know how they could have possibly missed this when she was born and they did her check up. After all, a Ventikel Septum Defect wasn't a disease to really joke around with. If not taking care of, the patient would die. If they had found the hole back then, they could have done a surgery to fix it, but it was too late in the age of 4. Later they had also realized that she didn't have 2/3 part of her heart septum, and only one big heart valve. _(A/N – I only know the Danish words for all these things, but I've tried to translate them as good as possible, but some of them weren't in my wordbook)_

That meant that she was a avsd-commune child. Or if taken the big picture, just another heart child in the world.

Doctor Gellar hooked her to a few machines, and she relaxed completely, trying to block the beeps away from her brain. She wasn't doing a very good job, but as soon as doctor Gellar started talking to her, she managed not to think about it.

He asked her how school was coming along, how Brooke and Ben were doing, and how Ryan was holding up.

A half an hour later, he stopped the machines, and Sharpay sat up in the bed, stretching herself.

"Okay then," doctor Gellar said, "I'll have these worked out in the moment, and while Nurse Baxter run with them, we'll have a little chat, okay?"

"Sure," Sharpay said.

Nurse Baxter took the papers that doctor Gellar handed him, and hurried out the door. It would only take them around 10 minutes to see how she was doing, so there was no point in not waiting. But she suspected that doctor Gellar thought something wasn't right.

"What have you been doing since our last meeting, Sharpay?" he asked, "You haven't been dancing that much have you?"

Sharpay shook her head, "No, not at all. There haven't been musical these last months. And I haven't done gym class either."

"Then I don't understand." Doctor Gellar mumbled, "I don't understand how your heart can be doing so badly when you haven't done anything."

"But…" Sharpay trailed off, biting her lip, "There's this audition coming up, so please don't say I cant do it…"

"What does this audition revolve, Sharpay?"

"Ehm," Sharpay's hope sank, "Some dancing – hip hop to be exact."

"Then you already know the answer to that!" Doctor Gellar said, "I know you've done it before without damage, but I don't think you're doing your best right now. However, we'll see that when Nurse Baxter is back."

Sharpay sighed, "Okay, but I meant to ask you something else, I read something in a magazine. I cant remember which magazine, but it was a question for some doctors, and it mentioned a new sort of drug to help keep the heartbeat slower. Do you know anything about that?"

Doctor Gellar seemed surprised, "Oh, so you do read the subscription of ´Doctors´ that I gave you for your birthday, huh? I read it too, Sharpay, so don't try to pretend like you don't know where it came from."

Sharpay laughed.

"But I must disappoint you; the drug will not work for you, because you're avsd-commune positive, and it's for asvd-commune patients."

Sharpay's face sunk, "Oh, I though I'd be able to try something new out for once."

Doctor Gellar smiled, "Well, we have this other new drug, but we don't know if it'll work yet. You're supposed to take it once a month, and I actually wanted to ask you to try it out."

"Sure." Sharpay said, "Only once a month sounds weird though? What sorta of pill is that?"

"It's not a pill," doctor Gellar said, "It's an injection. You're supposed to get it in you arm, and it will, over time, build a fake septum, well not _really,_ it will make your heart fell like you have it, which will keep your heartbeat down in special situations."

"What kind of situations?" Sharpay asked.

"When you're stressed or scared or nervous. Not really situations where you do exercise, but situations where your heart will start beating because of an emotion."

"Oh, that sounds really cool." Sharpay said, "Today I almost fainted because this guy looked at me, it was really creepy. My heart started beating faster after he looked at me, but luckily Ryan came in that moment to get my attention away from the other guy."

Doctor Gellar chuckled by the dreamy look in Sharpay's eyes. She must like that guy. "Well, then I guess you have no problem trying this out, then?"

Sharpay shook her head, "No, not at all."

"We'll schedule a meeting then. I'll need to talk to both Becca and Matt, and they'll have to sign a few papers." Doctor Gellar told her, "This is not a drug to joke around with. It's serious, and should be used properly."

"Like all other drugs." Sharpay said, sending him one of her smiles.

Just then Nurse Baxter came though the door, and handed doctor Gellar the papers. Doctor Gellar took them, and studied them close for a good 5 minutes, while Sharpay's heart started beating faster and faster because she was nervous. It would have been nice to have that new drug right there.

"This settles it then." Doctor Gellar finally said, slapping her journal close.

Sharpay breathed slowly in, closing her eyes, "Settles what?"

"You can't do the audition."

--

After parking her car in the parking lot, Sharpay leaned her head against the wheel and cried.

She hated her life!

Now she couldn't do the audition. She was not to do any sort of exercise, because the numbers the tests had shown, had been shocking, and if she wanted to at least be able to go to school, she shouldn't overextend herself.

It was just so typical!

Gabriella would probably end up with the lead now that Sharpay herself couldn't audition. Yeah well, if Gabriella did the audition.

She had just convinced Ryan to let her, and then doc. G told her that if she did the dance, he couldn't take responsibility for the effects. He mentioned something about hospitals, pills, and the machine which was locked up in her closet at home.

Urgh!

If she had to stay home again, she'd just die. Last time, everyone had been asking Ryan questions about Sharpay's whereabouts, and someone had even tried to step by to see her. Of course Becca hadn't let them in, but after 3 weeks people had really started to become nervous of where she was.

Then when she was back, they were scared of her like always, but some tried to ask her what had happened, but she did as she normally did: Shrugged them off, and yelled ´move´.

Sharpay lifted her head and looked in the mirror. She quickly did her make-up and hurried inside the school to make it to her next class before people started leaving the cafeteria. She didn't really want them to question where she'd been during their last class, so she hoped to get to the right classroom fast.

When she walked by the cafeteria though, Ryan was right outside. He'd been waiting for her, she knew it. His face lit up by the sight of her, and she tried to get away, but he grabbed her. He dragged her inside to their table, and pushed her into a seat. "So? How did it go?"

Sharpay looked at his hopeful, worried face. She knew she'd promised him to tell him if she couldn't do the audition, but she just wanted to do it so much. And she knew he wanted to do it too. "It went good." She smiled, kicking herself for lying.

"Really?" Ryan's face lit up, "What did he say when you mentioned the audition?"

"Not much," Sharpay whispered, "I could do it, we just cant practise that much. Like one or two times I can, but you do it longer."

"Okay…" Ryan said, smiling at her, "That's good, you're doing great then."

"Yup," Sharpay smiled, "And there's this new sort of drug, that he wants Matt and Becca to take a look at, so we have an appointment Friday next week."

"Great Shar!" Ryan said, and hugged her.

"Yeah…" Sharpay mumbled, "Great…"

--

When she later was looking at Mrs. Kirk, their English teacher, trying to take notes here and there of what she was saying, she couldn't believe herself. She'd lied to Ryan – and the only reason he had asked was because he was worried about her. Not because he wanted to punish her.

She felt disgusted with herself.

"So, I noticed you weren't there during Math? Where were you?"

Sharpay turned around and looked into Troy's blue eyes, "None of your damn business, Bolton!"

"Whoop, sorry I asked!" he held his hands before him, defending himself; "I was just curious. One minute you're there and the next you're not. I found it weird. At least I didn't ask Ryan like Taylor did."

"McKessie asked where I was?" Sharpay snapped, "That's none of her damn business."

"I saw the sign-up list." Troy then said, "So, you've decided to sign up anyway, huh?"

"Well, what do you know." Sharpay sarcastically shot back, turning around after several people had shushed them. They were after all, still having a lesson.

Troy kept looking her way, wanting to see her face again.

He couldn't explain what was going on with him. But he just really liked talking to Sharpay. She wasn't like the other girls at East High. She was different. And he knew that beneath her cold façade, she was nice. He could feel it, because sometimes he got a smile out of her, or even a giggle. He'd always been able to manage that, but it was lately he'd started to appreciate it.

She had always acted different around him than other guys, and he hoped it was because she liked him.

Because he really liked her. She was beautiful, sweet (sometimes) and really hot. She was pretty smart too, he knew that, because he had a lot of classes with her, and she always answered the teacher's questions like she was the one asking them.

He couldn't wait to ask her out.

He just knew he had to do some groundwork first. He had to get a little closer to her, because not knowing stuff about her, was holding him back. What kind of stuff did she like to do?

He looked at her, and got lost in her sweet smell again. He was at the seat right behind her, and he could smell her scent. It was really intoxicating. He couldn't help himself.

He wanted her.

Just like any other boy at East High. They all wanted her. He noticed how they all starred when she slandered down the hall. Because she had a great butt, and a lot of womanly curves.

Yup, Troy Bolton was not the only one who had noticed that.

That was why he told himself to get it together soon and ask her if she wanted to do something. Before someone else beat him.

* * *

_So I decided to cut here. As you might have already noticed, the chapters aren't as long as in "When Will They See?", but I don't feel like it. I hope you still like this ;p ? Please review me again, pretty please? **Tootles, **Stessa :)_


	5. Chapter 4

_Hey, thank you all so much for the reviews, I'm glad you like this story ;p This chapter isn't that long…_

_**Disclaimer; **I made an agreement with Disney Channel. They told me I could have High School Musical for free. And right after that I met Santa, and started blowing bobbles out of my ears. ;) I don't own the songs "Collide" and "Someday We'll Know" either._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 4.**

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Monday again.

The day for their audition.

Sharpay was sitting at her chair in homeroom, shooting little glances at Troy, who had the seat next to her. He was looking good today. She was glad that he and Gabriella had broken up, because that meant no competition for her and Ryan. No-one else dared to challenge them, and she knew that if someone did do it, they'd win hands down.

Mrs. Darbus was going on and on about the auditions happening free period. Sharpay couldn't wait either, she was looking forward to being on stage again. Her and Ryan had rehearsed two times yesterday. He wouldn't let her do more, and she was glad, because she didn't feel her best.

It had taken it all out in her yesterday when they'd rehearsed from 10 – 11am, and she had ended up going to bed two hours later, at 1. Becca and Matt had found it weird, but she just told them she had stayed up late the night before. She didn't want them to find out, because they'd forbid her to do it.

When the bell finally rang, ending homeroom, she and Ryan made their way to the auditorium immediately. They went into their dressing room, and got ready. They did as they always did; dressed up in matching clothes, wanting to make a good impression. They would be singing a song, and then dance to some mixed music, Kelsi had got thrown together.

When the ball rang again, signalling the start of free period, Sharpay and Ryan found their seats in the hall, ready to watch the other tryouts. Sharpay had her bag with her, hugging it close to her body. She had her oxygen cylinder with her, just in case. It was one of those things she had to drag around with her when she left home. Normally she had it in her locker, because she knew that if she suddenly couldn't breathe, Ryan could always run and get it for her, but now she wanted to have it close to her. _Just_ in case.

Ryan noticed the red bag, and he knew what was in it. He padded it and looked at her, questions in his blue eyes; "What is that?"

"You know it."

"Yeah, but what is it doing here?" he asked, crooking an eyebrow, "You're not feeling bad are you?"

"No," Sharpay shot him a stiff smile, "It's just in case."

He nodded, but still looked worried. Sharpay didn't question it. He was always like that, and she found it kinda cute. He was just worried about her, how could she be annoyed by that?

They turned around as the doors burst open, and Mrs. Darbus, followed by everyone else, came into the auditorium. Sharpay felt herself smile at Troy. He was doing a single audition, she knew that. And there were of course Gabriella and Taylor. They would also be auditioning.

Troy shot himself into the seat next to Sharpay, "Hi Shar."

"Hey Troy…" Sharpay smiled, happy that he choose exactly that seat when there were 100's of others to sit in, "Nervous?"

"Nope, you?"

"Nah…"

"You're gonna get it." Troy smiled, "You and Ryan are the only ones auditioning for leads. It's perfect."

Sharpay giggled, "Yeah, well… We are brilliant."

"I know!" Troy smiled.

Just then, Mrs. Darbus entered the stage, Kelsi right behind her:

"Everyone!" she proclaimed, her voice running through the halls with no problem of being heard, "This is a house of art. We all know who is gonna paint the picture! It's you, my shining stars! First we will have the single auditions, accompanied by Kelsi Nielson on the piano."

Kelsi did a little nod, and took a seat by the piano.

Mrs. Darbus stepped down from the stage, and looked at her paper, "Hmm, should we start with our male lead from last time? Troy Bolton!?"

Troy stood up and found a spot on the scene where he felt comfortable. "I'll be singing ´Collide´"

Kelsi pressed the first keys, and Sharpay felt her eyes close. It would be okay for her to take a little nap. Just a little one, it wouldn't hurt… She would feel much better, and ready when she had rested her body for awhile…

--

"Sharpay!?"

She heard someone call her name… Someone wanted her. She felt a soft pair of hands on her arms, shaking her. Her heart started to pound.

"Sharpay!?"

Faster… faster…

"_Sharpay_!?"

She woke up, and looked into two pair of blue eyes. She recognized them as Ryan and Troy's.

"What?" she snapped.

"It's our turn." Ryan whispered, sending a look towards Gabriella and Taylor, who were giggling like crazy after seeing Sharpay asleep.

"Oh…" she stood up and safely put her red bag in her seat. She was awhere of the fact that she was blushing, but the excitement of it being their turn, helped her ignore it.

When they stepped onto the stage, Ryan grabbed her hand, and brought his mouth to her ear; "Are you ok, Shar? Are you feeling bad? We don't have to do this?"

"I'm okay, Ry!" Sharpay hissed. She stepped forward and took a microphone. She knew that Ryan knew she wasn't feeling well, but she was determined to go through with this. She wanted the God damn leads. Even though, she did feel like she was about to faint. But she was sure that once she got into the singing, she would completely forget about it…

"We'll be singing ´Someday We'll Know´" she told them, smiling at Ryan.

He took his mic too, still shooting her knowing glances, but she brushed them off.

Kelsi started playing and Sharpay got ready for herself to begin;

"_Ninety Miles outside Chicago  
Can't stop driving  
I don't know why  
So many questions  
Need an answer  
Two years later  
He's still on my mind_"

Ryan started singing, still watching his sister closely;

"_Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?  
Who hold the stars up in the sky?  
Is true love just once in a lifetime?_"

They joined in together…

"_Did the captain of the Titanic cry?_

_Someday we'll know  
If love can move a mountain...  
Someday we'll know  
Why the sky is blue...  
Someday we'll know  
Why I wasn't meant for you..._"

Sharpay danced around the scene, having a really good time. She loved this song, and her and Ryan sang it really good together, _they _loved it. She danced around Ryan, getting ready for her part;

"_Does anybody know the way to Atlantis?_"

Ryan took the microphone to his mouth, finally thinking that it was going to be ok, and nothing would happen, when Sharpay suddenly stopped, her face white.

Kelsi stopped playing as she realized that Ryan hadn't joined in at his que, and looked at the scene, where Sharpay was standing, a hand on her heart. Ryan was looking at her, a scared look in his eyes.

"Shar?" he whispered, slowly approaching her, "Sharpay…? Are you okay?"

She hadn't moved in a long time, but then she started breathing rapidly. Short breaths, nowhere near enough to fill her lungs and get oxygen to her brain.

"I--- I cant… breathe…" she managed to say, between the short, hard breaths she was taking.

Ryan quickly approached her, and moved her hand away from her chest. He placed his own one there, counting the beats, just as doctor Gellar had taught him. There were way too many. "Holy shit, Sharpay!" he yelled, "How can you breathe?"

"I can't!" she said, closing her eyes. She grabbed a hold on Ryan's hand, slowly sitting down on the stage.

"What should I do?" Ryan exclaimed.

Sharpay shot him a mad look, and pointed at her seat. Ryan quickly remembered that she'd brought her oxygen cylinder.

"Troy!" he yelled, "Give me that red bag!" he paused, "NOW!"

Troy shot out of his seat, grabbed the red bag and hurried up to them. He handed Ryan the bag, and Ryan quickly opened it, hoping to remember everything correctly. He looked at the pieces he had to throw together, and got a confused look in his eyes. He took out the cylinder, and tried attaching the piece which went into her mouth. It didn't go very well.

Sharpay slapped his hands away, and like a pro, she attached the pieces to each other, and took it into her mouth. Ryan turned it on.

She could feel her muscles relax as soon as she got oxygen. She took a deep breath and leaned back on the stage, lying down completely. She closed her eyes, well awhere that everyone were looking at her. It was the first time she'd gotten this far at school. She had never needed the oxygen cylinder at school. Maybe she should have stayed home. Maybe…

She sat up again, when she felt her heartbeat return to normal (or normal for her). She took one deep breath and turned the cylinder off. She stood up and looked at Ryan, a guilty look in her eyes.

He was just standing there beside Troy, his arms crossed in front of his chest; "What just happened there?"

Sharpay bit her lip, not wanting to have this conversation in front of everyone. She knew that Ryan wouldn't budge, though, "I couldn't breathe."

"I could see that, Sharpay!" Ryan yelled, "Your heart was beating like crazy! What did doctor Gellar tell you? Did he really say it was okay for you to audition? Think about it, this wasn't even the dance part, you were only singing. What couldn't have happened if you'd been dancing? God, I don't even want to know! I've already lost my parents, I wont lose my sister too! What did he say, Sharpay? Tell me!?"

She looked at him, tears in her eyes, "Ok, ok, I got it, Ry!" she yelled, "He told me I couldn't do it, okay? He said that if I did do it, he couldn't take responsibility for my actions. Apparently it could have ended much worse than this!"

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I wanted to do the audition, okay?" Sharpay yelled, "I wanted us to do it together like always, and I thought we might have a chance to get the leads again! And I knew how much you wanted this, Ry, and I wanted it too. I wouldn't be the cause of us not doing it. I thought I'd be fine!"

"Well, you proved yourself wrong!" Ryan yelled, "Don't you understand it, Shar? This is not something to kid about! You can seriously hurt yourself! Why are you so damn stubborn?"

"Because that's me!" Sharpay yelled, throwing her arms into the air, "That's who I am? And look! Nothing bad happened! I'm still here, ain't I? I'm still standing!"

"Then why do you look like your heart is beating like crazy?" Ryan asked.

"Because it is!" Sharpay shrieked, placing a hand on her chest again, trying to calm down, "Look, Ry, fighting with you is doing me no good. I should go home and lie down."

"You think!?" Ryan yelled, "If you cant even yell without feeling bad, then how did you expect to dance and sing?"

"I didn't know that I couldn't!" Sharpay begun again, starting to argue back. She was on fire, and she wanted to get the last word. She wanted to tell him off.

Ryan looked at her, "Oh really?"

Sharpay was about to say something, when she stumbled backwards and collapsed.

"Holy shit!" Ryan exclaimed, running towards her, Troy right behind him.

"What is going on?" Troy asked, a scared look in his eyes.

"I don't have time to explain now, Troy." Ryan said, "We need to get her to the hospital right now. Doctor Gellar will take care of her. Pick her up, I'll drive!"

He ran down the stage, and Troy quickly picked Sharpay up, into his arms, and followed right in suit.

Back was a filled auditorium, not understanding what had happened.

* * *

_Yeah, I know this chapter is short too, but I want to leave it there, it feels right, doesn't it? ;p Hmm, maybe you find the heart beating/yelling/singing thingy a little weird, but I'm not very good at explaining what happens when you suddenly can't breathe. It's very complicated, and sometimes I cant even explain it in Danish, so I tried doing it the best I could. And believe me, fixing an oxygen cylinder together under pressure is pretty hard too, it takes a lot of finger work, because they are nowhere near as big as the real ones. Oh, I should just stop rambling now, I don't even know if this interests you at all? Please leave me a review, then. Please? **Tootles, **Stessa._


	6. Chapter 5

_Hi, thanks to you all, I love your reviews. I'm glad you understood what I meant when I wrote about the oxygen cylinder and all. Anyway, here is the next chapter._

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 5.**

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Ryan was phasing back and forth, hands on his back. He was still in his auditioning clothes, but he didn't care. It was his sister's life they were talking about.

After driving as fast as possible to the hospital, he and Troy had rushed into the hospital, shouting for doctor Gellar. The receptionist, who was quite familiar with the Evans family, had called him up immediately, and he'd scooped Sharpay into his own arms, and then he had ran as fast as he could towards the room she usually was in.

He hadn't come back yet, and Ryan was getting nervous.

Troy was just sitting at one of the blue plastic chairs. He didn't know what was happening, and he wanted to find out. No-one had told him yet, but that was ok, he knew that Ryan was scared, and that their sister and husband haven't arrived yet. He understood them. They had to worry about her, and he could be informed later.

He was just really scared for Sharpay too.

He had really started feeling that maybe something could spire between them. He felt that she was always nice to him, and that could possibly be because she liked him too. Now he was positive, actually. He liked her. He knew it. No, he didn't just like her. He was in love with her.

He looked at Ryan, who by now had seated himself in a chair on the opposite wall. He looked tired and worn out. But again, that was understandable.

Suddenly Troy saw his mom running down the hall. She stopped when she saw him. "Troy? Oh, there you are! Someone mentioned that you were here, what happened?"

Troy stood up, wanting to calm his nervous mother, "Nothing mom. Well, one of my classmates collapsed. We had to take her here. What are you doing here?"

"Today was the day I had to take a tour on the hospital to get back in business. As soon as the courses are over, I can start. Doctor Flatts recognized you from the picture I showed him." Mrs. Bolton stopped to take a breather, "You really had me going there."

"Sorry mom." Troy said, "But we had to take her to the hospital."

Mrs. Bolton's smiled frowned, "Sure. What is wrong with her?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. But doctor Gellar took her with him immediately. I think she's one of his patients. I didn't even know she was sick!"

"Okay…" Mrs. Bolton bit her lip, "But I assume you're gonna stay here, right?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, I am. It's her brother over there." He pointed at Ryan, "I think he needs some support until their older sister gets here."

"Sure, I'll find you when I get off, and we'll go home together?" Mrs. Bolton suggested, "Is that a deal?"

Troy nodded and watched as his mother rushed off to get back to her class. He took a deep breath, and turned to look at Ryan, who was sitting at the chair, his face in his hands. Troy slowly took a seat next to him; "Are you ok?"

"It's my fault…!" Ryan said, looking at him, tears streaming down his face, "I let her convince me. I shouldn't have budged. I knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Why did I let myself believe she could? It's my fault she's lying there, Troy!"

"Slow down there, Ryan!" Troy said, "I have no idea what is wrong with Sharpay, because I don't know her at all, but I really think that she is the one responsible for this. Both you and her made that very clear on the stage at school, okay? Just calm down, hmm?"

"You're right." Ryan said, nodding to himself, "You're right. You know what? I need to go outside and get some fresh air. I'll wait for Matt and Becca to get here. If doctor Gellar comes, just go with him and sit with her. She's asleep for a long time, but just stay there with her. She always remember if one of us have been there."

Troy nodded, "Sure. I'll say hi to her from you."

Ryan got a quick smile on his lips, and quickly stood up. He made his way across the hall, stepping out, into the hot breeze.

--

Ryan got a huge smile on his face, when Matt's mini van pulled into the parking lot, and he and Becca came rushing out. They ran across the parking lot, and approached him.

Matt had a serious look on his face, and Becca had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Ryan!" Matt exclaimed, "What happened? What is going on?"

"Is she okay!?" Becca asked, clutching Matt's hand in her own.

"I don't know…" Ryan trailed off, "Doctor Gellar hadn't come out yet before I went out here, but one of our friends stayed in there. He'd go sit with her if that was."

They went inside, and saw that Troy indeed was gone.

"We'll let him finish then?" Matt asked, unsure of whether or not they should go in, "We can find Doctor Gellar and talk to him?"

"First I need to know what happened?" Becca asked, looking straight at Ryan, who nodded. The three of them took a seat and Ryan told them the story.

--

Troy quietly sat there, starring at her pale face.

Her hair was sprawled across the pillow, like a halo, and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. There was really no describing it. She had it all. He loved every little detail about her.

She was amazing.

He could feel her heart beating. He could hear her breathing. He could feel her hand safely tucked in his own. He took it to his lips and kissed it. It was cold, and he wanted to do nothing, but rub it, just to keep her warm.

What the cause of her collapse was, he didn't know. And how she ended up there, he didn't know. But he wanted her out.

It drove him mad, seeing her like this. She wasn't supposed to lie there. She was supposed to dance and sing around on the stage at school, making everyone else wish they had a voice like her. She was supposed to walk through the halls right now, attracting looks from all the boys she passed.

Troy squeezed her hand, a little tear slipping down his face. "Ryan says hi." He whispered, "It isn't because he doesn't want to be here. He's waiting for your sister. They'll be here soon. They all care about you. Like I do."

He took a deep breath, not really knowing if it was a good idea or not. But he did it anyway. He leaned forward a planted a soft kiss on her lips. At least he could say he'd kissed her now. And she hadn't slapped him away. Not that she'd be able to if she wanted, and that was perhaps why he dared to do it.

He sat back again, studying her face. She was just asleep, doctor Gellar had told him so. But she was so stiff. She didn't move at all. Doctor Gellar said that her heart couldn't take it, and all she needed now was rest and rest and rest. There would probably go a few hours before she opened her eyes.

Doctor Gellar hadn't told him much after he came and asked Troy to watch Sharpay. Doctor Gellar had to hurry to another patient, and he'd just told Troy to stay there until Becca and Matt got there. Then he'd talk to them.

"Troy!?"

Troy turned around, and found Ryan and two other people in the door – he assumed that it was Becca and Matt. "Oh, there you are. She's still sleeping. Doctor Gellar told me to just watch her."

"Oh my God…!" Becca exclaimed, rushing towards her bed. She stood beside Sharpay, and placed a hand on her heart. "It's still beating like crazy. I think she needs a lot of rest."

Matt approached the bed too, looking at Sharpay closely, "I can't believe we could let this happen! We should have known she wouldn't take no for an answer!"

"She never does." Becca agreed.

"What did doctor Gellar say, Troy?" Ryan asked.

Troy stood up, letting go of Sharpay's hand, which didn't go unnoticed by Becca, "He said that I should keep her company until you guys arrived. Then you should go talk to him."

"Okay then." Becca said, smiling at Troy, "Ryan you stay here, Matt; go find doc. G. And you, boy; I need to speak to you!"

Troy looked confused, as Becca dragged him outside the room, into the hallway. She let go of him, and just looked at him instead; "What's your name?"

"Uh… Troy Bolton?" Troy tried.

"Hi!" Becca said, waving a little. Some of the things she did reminded him an awful lot of Sharpay; "My name is Becca. I'm Sharpay's big sister. What are you doing here?"

"I-" Troy paused. What _was_ he doing here? "I helped Ryan taking her here after she collapsed. I just stayed because I wanted to know how it all went with her."

"Okay…" Becca smiled at him, "Thank you then."

"For what?"

"For taking her here. You know, she needs a doctor immediately if she collapses for real. It can be really tough."

"That's all right." Troy smiled. "Can I ask one question though?"

"Sure." Becca said, "What?"

"What is wrong with Sharpay?"

Becca stopped and shot him a weird look, squeezing her eyebrows together; "You don't know?"

--

"So, basically, she'll have to stay here a few days until she's able to go outside, and her heartbeat is slower." Doctor Gellar said, "And after that, she'll have to stay home for some time."

Matt swallowed a lump in his troth, knowing that this would cause them troubles with Sharpay; "For how long, doctor?"

"More than a week." Doctor Gellar said, fumbling with his fingers, "I know how much she hates this, but it's the best to do right now. You should get her machine ready for when she's coming home, and prepare yourself for keeping her company."

"Okay…" Becca said, linking her hand with Matt's, "We'll do that. But I really think we should head home for now. We'll come back tomorrow. The first thing."

"Okay, say hi to Brooke and Ben from me." doctor Gellar smiled.

"Shall do."

Becca and Matt entered Sharpay's room, finding Ryan and Troy on each side of her bed, each holding a hand.

"Ry, it's time to go home now, you have school tomorrow, and you're exhausted. We need to pick Brooke and Ben up to." Matt said.

"But what about Shar?" Ryan asked, glancing at her sister.

"She'll be fine, Ryan." Becca said, "I'll come back here tomorrow, early, _early_. And you can come right after school."

"I'll go with you!" Troy quickly offered.

"Really?" Ryan asked, "That's great, thanks Troy."

"We spoke to doctor Gellar," Matt told them, "She'll probably wake up tomorrow, and then we need to tell her some bad news. But then it's good that you two boys can cheer her up after."

"When are you going home, Troy?" Becca asked.

Troy shot her a little smile, "When my mom comes to pick me up. She's at the hospital somewhere."

"Okay."

"Well," Ryan stood up, "I'll catch you tomorrow Troy. Do you want a ride to school? Then we can head here together too?"

"That'd be cool. Thanks Ryan." Troy smiled, "See ya' tomorrow."

Becca waved at Troy again and the three of them left the room. Once outside, Becca turned to Ryan; "Who is he?"

"Oh, Troy Bolton," Ryan said, crooking an eyebrow, "He's just Sharpay's long-time crush. Seems to me that maybe _someone_… is crushing back."

--

Troy was still watching Sharpay.

Becca hadn't told him what was wrong with Sharpay. She said that it was Sharpay who should tell him, if she wanted him to know. He respected that. He could just hope that Sharpay would let him be a part of her secret, then. It would be amazing to get to know her better. He wanted to.

He got the feeling that Sharpay's sister and her husband had liked him when they'd talked. Maybe that could come to have it's advances when something occurred. He really hoped Sharpay would agree to go out with him. Because he was planning on asking her. Big plans.

There was a soft knock on the door, and he turned around to find his mother there, looking curious.

"Hi…" he whispered, waving her nearer, "This is Sharpay. She'll make a much better impression when she's awake."

His mother laughed a little, taking the girl in. "Wow, she's beautiful. What is wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Troy admitted, shrugging his shoulders, "And I don't care. I still love her."

"You love her?"

"Yeah…" Troy trailed off, kissing her hand, "I really do."

Mrs. Bolton smiled, and hugged her son close to her, "We'll see about that. Maybe once she wakes up, you should invite her over. Then I can meet her properly. I bet she's a really sweet girl. Are you ready to go home?"

"I don't want to leave, but Ryan and I are coming back tomorrow." Troy said, "That's okay, right?"

"As long as you still do your school."

"Of course I do." Troy said. He stood up and looked at Sharpay again. Then he kissed her cheek, "See you tomorrow Shar."

Then he turned around and left the room with his mom.

--

"_Hi Ryan. This is Gabriella. What happened to Sharpay? Everyone at school is really worried, and I thought I'd call you and ask. But since you're not answering, I bet you're really busy. I just want to let you know, we hope she's okay. Tay and me… and all the other students who were in the auditorium. Mrs. Darbus told us not to tell anyone about it, but I know words have slipped out anyway, so be prepared for questions at school tomorrow. I guess Sharpay's not coming, or…? Anyway, I'll hopefully talk to you soon. Bye!"  
_

Ryan replayed the message for the thousandth time. She'd really called to ask how Sharpay was doing. That meant, she did care. That she didn't hate Sharpay.

Maybe Sharpay would like this when she woke up.

Like a light in the middle of every other dark thing.

He knew she'd hate that everyone at school knew, but that was something Ryan couldn't stop from happening. And Sharpay wouldn't have to deal with them in a couple of weeks. He'd be the one who would have to take it until she came back to school. He knew he couldn't tell them what was wrong, Sharpay would kill him.

Ryan grabbed his cell, knowing that he should call Gabriella, and talk to her. He quickly dialled her number, and waited for her to pick up.

* * *

_Yup, the end of another chapter. I hope this was ok, and not too boring? Please review me again, and I'll love you ;p _

_And I've totally forgotten my Friends quotes, so here comes the first one;_

_**Rachel:** Yeah, you know what we should all do? We should play that game where everyone says one thing that they're thankful for. _

_**Joey:** Ooh-ooh, I! I am thankful for this beautiful fall we've been having. _

_**Monica:** That's very nice. _

_**Chandler:** That's sweet, Joey. _

_**Joey:** Yeah, the other day I was at the bus-stop and this lovely fall breeze came in out of nowhere and blew this chick's skirt right up. Oh! Which reminds me, I'm also thankful for thongs._

_Well then, take care, you all; **tootles, **Stessa H. (with love for you all)_


	7. Chapter 6

_I. **fucking**. love. you guys! You're the best! Thanks to you all for reviewing me, it means a lot, so don't stop, please?_

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 6.**

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Ten minutes to 8., Ryan and Troy entered the school. The minute the door smacked close behind them, people bombarded them with questions. They tried to do a quick getaway, but it was hard.

"What happened?" one asked, "Where is Sharpay? Is it true she has leukaemia?"

A few gasps were heard, and Troy was sure, that now, _that_ would be the new rumours.

"People!" Ryan yelled, "Will you leave us alone!?"

"What happened to the Ice Queen?" a cheerleader asked, "Did she die?"

"Shut up, Jenny!" Troy yelled, making his way through the crowd, "His sister just got hospitalized yesterday, would you show him some respect!? He's not feeling well!"

Gabriella made her way up to the two boys, and hugged Ryan. She felt bad for him. He had called her yesterday, and they'd had a good, long talk. "Com here, Ryan." She said, taking his arm, "Lets get to homeroom."

Ryan followed, and so did Troy. They found their seats in homeroom, and waited for Mrs. Darbus to arrive.

The first thing, she did, was ask Ryan how Sharpay was doing.

"She's doing okay." Ryan said, "She's still really tired, and she didn't wake up yesterday, but she's gonna be fine. The doctors expect her to wake up today. We're going there right after school, Troy and I."

"Okay, send her my best wishes." Mrs. Darbus smiled, "And I hope she'll be able to do the musical."

"She wont, Mrs. Darbus." Ryan said, "She's not allowed, and after what happened yesterday, I don't think it's a very good idea. Plus, it'll be a few weeks until she's allowed to go to school again."

"Oh!" Mrs. Darbus said, "Then I must find a new leading lady. I had big plans for you and Sharpay, Ryan. But now you must find another partner."

Gabriella slowly raised her hand, "Mrs. Darbus? I'll do the play with Ryan."

"Really, ms. Montez?" Mrs. Darbus said, "That's great. You've got the part."

And as Mrs. Darbus started going on about the musical, Gabriella shot Ryan a little smile. Ryan smiled right back.

Troy noticed this, but he wasn't bothered, all he could think about was Sharpay.

--

After finally making their way through the school, they entered Ryan's car, and drove to the hospital.

They got there around 4:30, and rushed inside to find doctor Gellar. They needed to hear how Sharpay had been doing that day.

"She woke up around noon." Doctor Gellar told them, "But she fell back to sleep rather quickly again, she's pretty tired. She told me to tell you guys hi, if she didn't wake up again while you were here."

"Okay," Ryan said, "We'll just go sit with her. Has Becca been here?"

"She was here around 9., but she left before Sharpay woke up. She's coming back around 5."

They nodded and said goodbye to doctor Geller. They hurried down the hall and into Sharpay's room, where they took their seats from the day before.

"Did we have any homework to do?" Troy asked.

"I don't know," Ryan admitted, "I wasn't paying attention."

"Me neither."

"Troy…." Ryan trailed off, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Troy said, not moving his eyes from Sharpay's white face. She was really pale, but still beautiful.

"What is up with you and Sharpay?" Ryan asked, "I mean, why are you here now? I didn't know you guys were close or anything…"

"We're not." Troy said, "But I'm in love with her."

"I thought so." Ryan said, "But hey! If she do feel the same way for you… Don't expect too much of her. She's different from the other girls, in many ways."

"I know." Troy said, "And that's what I love about her."

Ryan chuckled to himself, "Hey dude! If you're all into Sharpay… would it be okay if I asked Gabby out?"

"Sure," Troy just replied, "I have no problem with that. She and I are not even friends now. She got a little mad at me for breaking up with her."

Ryan nodded, "Yup, will you stay here, I've got to go wait for Becca?"

"Yeah, fine."

Ryan stood up and left the room, leaving Troy alone with Sharpay. He had her hand in his, and he bend down and kissed it.

"You know I love you, I know you do!" he whispered, looking at her.

"Yeah, I got that already yesterday." Sharpay hoarsely replied, opening her eyes.

Troy jolted back, letting go of her hand. Surprise was written across his face. "You're awake!?"

She smiled at him, weakly, "I've been awake since you guys came in here…"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Troy asked, daring to go nearer again.

"I wanted to hear you guys talk about me." she smiled, "Come back here, take my hand again."

Troy shot her a smile, and took her hand again, "You scared the crap out of me, y'know?"

She giggled a little, "Yup. It was fun…"

There was an awkward silence, and Troy once again brought Sharpay's hand to his lips and kissed it. She smiled at him and took a deep breath. Her heart started beating. Only Troy could do that…

"Troy…" she began softly, "Did you really mean what you said? About being in love with me?"

Troy looked at her, a smile on his face, "Yeah, I did. The only question now is really… Do you feel the same way?"

--

"Ryan!" Becca yelled, hugging her dear brother, "How is she?"

"She's been awake today." Ryan said, "Not while I was here though, but she was awake."

"Uh, great!" Becca said, happily clapping her hands together, "Did you talk to doc. G?"

"Yup,"

"I need to speak to him too." Becca said, "He said something about this new drug. I want to know more of it. You wanna come with me?"

Ryan shrugged, "Yeah okay."

They went down the hall, in search for doctor Gellar. They didn't have to search long though, they found him standing by a room door.

"Oh hi!" he exclaimed, greeting them, "How can I help you?"

"That new drug…" Becca begun, "What does it do?"

"Well…" doctor Gellar begun, as they went down the hall, towards Sharpay's room, "It controls her heartbeat when we're speaking emotions and feelings."

"Huh?"

"It will be able to control her heartbeat in situations like that." doctor Gellar explained, "Sharpay sounded like she thought it was a good idea, so it's really just for you guys to sign it."

"I see…" Becca whispered.

--

Sharpay bit her lip, sighing, "I do Troy… At least I think, I do. But… It's really complicated."

"What's complicated?" Troy asked, "I mean, if you like me, that's it!? No more chit-chatting!?"

"In case you haven't noticed Troy, I'm really sick."

Troy shot her a look, "I don't know that. No-one has told me what is wrong with you, and frankly, I'd like to know?"

"It's my heart."

"That much I figured."

"I'm avsd-commune positive." Sharpay begun, "I have a Ventikel Septum Defect, and only one big heart valve. It causes me to have trouble breathing a lot, especially when I do exercise. Like dancing. Actually, I'm not aloud to do that, I just do it. The thing is, my heart beats _way _too fast, and that causes me to collapse in the end, after not being able to breathe."

She explained it in ways she knew he'd understand. He wasn't a child, but he still didn't know all the medical terms, that she'd come to know after years and years with doctor Gellar.

Troy looked at her, letting it all sink in, "But if you don't do exercise, then you should be okay…"

Sharpay lifted her hand, and placed a cold finger on his lips, "No Troy." She shook her head, "One day… In the future, my heart can't take it anymore. They will have to take me to surgery, trying to fix my heart. There'll not be a high chance for me to make it. If they don't do the surgery, I'll die still. Do you understand me?"

Troy leaned back in his chair, a haunted look in his eye, "So, you're going to die?"

Sharpay merely nodded.

"When?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "It could be tomorrow, or in ten years. All facts are telling me though, that I wont be alive at my 30th birthday."

"So soon?" Troy asked, sounding like a little child.

"Yeah…" Sharpay said, "Maybe even before that."

Troy took her hand again, "How can you be so calm about this, Sharpay? It's like… Half of your life is already over!"

Sharpay nodded, "I know, Troy. And I guess I'm just used to it. It wont help me if I'm not calm about it. It'll just cause another attack of the killer-heart." She giggled, "I mean, seriously, there's nothing I can do. Maybe except hope that when they do the surgery, _if_ they do, I'll make it."

There was a long silence again, where Troy subconsciously rubbed Sharpay's hand with is thumb. He couldn't stop thinking about all this. Sharpay had a dieing disease, and she was so calm about it? He couldn't believe they never knew… It was horrible.

Sharpay decided to break the silence, "But Troy…" she whispered, "If you're still willing to take a chance with me, I'm here. It's not gonna be easy, because there's a lot of things I cant do, but…"

Troy leaned forward and placed a shaking finger on her lips. "Shush, Sharpay." He whispered, "The fact that you're sick, can't take away my feelings for you…" he removed his finger, and slowly leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

She pulled away from him, a smile on her lips though, "And that's one of the things…"

"Huh?"

"You really have to tell me before you do that, otherwise, my heart will go crazy."

"Oh… okay." Troy smiled, "Well, in that case: Sharpay, I'm going to kiss you again."

"This is awesome!" she giggled, not before, her lips was captured by Troy's.

--

"I'm not sure…" Becca trailed off, looking at doctor Gellar.

"It's your decision."

"Becca, I think Sharpay would want to try that drug…" Ryan begun, "Especially with Troy around…"

Becca looked like she'd just gotten a bright idea, "I see," she mumbled, "But still…" They walked towards her room, and found the door open. Becca peaked in. She turned to doctor Gellar, a smile on her face, "Maybe that drug wouldn't be so bad after all…" she mumbled, and then she shot another look into the room, where Sharpay and Troy were making out.

* * *

_Soooo sorry about this lousy chapter! I really mean it, this must be the worst thing I have ever written. But I decided to post it anyway. If this is posted, I can go on to the next chapter, and hopefully write better. And hey, don't get mad at me, because of Sharpay's dieing disease, please? Though my friend did get a little mad... Anyway, please do leave me a review?_

_Friends quote;_

_**Rachel:** You guys, I'm telling you, when she runs, she looks like a cross between Kermit The Frog and The Six Million Dollar Man._

_"The One Where Phoebe Runs" is one of my favourite episodes ever. It's just so funny, lol. Hehe, **tootles, **Stessa ;p _


	8. Chapter 7

_Hey there  Huge greetings. You guys are truly amazing. I love your reviews, they just make my day. And special thanks to turboman for telling me about the disease. I already know a lot about it (for many reasons), but thanks for taking the time, anyway. I appreciate it. And this chapter is written for AK-tutti, and our kangaroo Steve, whom we share. I cant wait to pick him up at the train station this Friday. I hope you two are having fun though. _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 7. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Gabriella approached Ryan's table, taking a deep breath. She stood before him, "So, Ry. How was Sharpay doing yesterday?"

Ryan shot her a smile, "Pretty good. She woke up while we were there. Her and Troy made out pretty good."

"Oh my God!" Gabriella exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "Really? Are they going out?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, I think so. I know they are like_ in love_ with each other anyway, so if they aren't going out yet, they'll be going out soon. Was there anything you wanted?"

"Yeah… I just," she paused, "I wanted to ask if I could tag along to the hospital today? Or maybe tomorrow? I want to see if she's okay."

"But Gabby…" Ryan began, "We have the first rehearsal for the musical today. Troy is going to the hospital alone, and after that, he's taking Sharpay home. She's free to go after her check-up."

"Really?" Gabriella smiled, "That's good. Well, then I guess you and I will have to rehearse. Can I come to your house tomorrow after school then? I really want to talk to her."

"Sure," Ryan said, "Why do you, anyway?"

"Why do I what?"

"Want to talk to Sharpay."

"Because I could have been nicer to her." Gabriella said, "I want to talk to her, and maybe be like friends. Just some good old girl-talking. I figured that maybe there was a reason she is acting the way she is. You know, so icy."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, and you're right about that. Shar is pushing people away, because she don't want too many too close. She says she's gonna disappoint them someday. I dunno, but that's just Sharpay. She is weird that way."

Gabriella nodded, "You'll sit with us at lunch, right?"

Ryan shot her another smile, "Sure."

--

Troy gently knocked on the door to Sharpay's room, waiting her answer.

"Come in."

He opened the door, and found Sharpay on her bed, doctor Gellar standing before her, an injection in his hand.

"Well, hello Troy." He smiled, "You're just in time to see the show. Sharpay will start screaming in a minute."

"I hate needles." Sharpay smiled, her brown eyes already glistening with tears, "Will you hold my hand?"

"Sure." Troy said. He took a seat next to her, and took her hand in his.

"I'm doing this for you, y'know." Sharpay began, and by the look on his face, she continued; "The whole emotion thing I told you about? You see, this drug will help me with that. Now you can kiss me without my heart going mad. Well… It still will, but for several different reasons."

Troy chuckled, and watched as doctor Gellar slowly, but surely stretched out her arm, and gave her the injection. Sharpay flinched, and she got a scared look in her eyes. The tears started streaming. _(A/N – that might as well have been me. I HATE needles, I even fainted one time I got an injection. And it's horrible when you get them a lot, because you cant go around fainting all the time, now can you?)_

Doctor Gellar pulled away from her, and gave her a glass of water, which she quickly drank.

"Now, you should be free to go, Sharpay." He told them, "Your results are fine, but can you promise me one thing?"

"Anything for you doc. G." Sharpay said, shooting him one of her Hollywood-smiles.

"Don't dance. Don't run. Don't go to school. Don't sing. Don't… Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Sure, doc. G.!" she said, watching him leave the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, she looked at Troy, "_So_, not gonna happen!"

He laughed a little, "But you have to take care of yourself, Shar."

"Sure I will!" Sharpay smiled, "But look, I don't need this! I have a lot to do!"

"As what?"

"As living my life before I die." Sharpay said, pushing her covers away from her, "I don't want to be in a stupid hospital. I would much rather do all the stuff that they say I can't do and take the risk. And yeah, maybe it'll end in disaster, but at least I'd die after living my life!"

"You can live your life like this too, you know." Troy said, "It's just different things you have to value and appreciate."

"Like what?" Sharpay asked, throwing all the things on her nightstand into a bag on the floor. She was still in her hospital gown, so she pulled some clothes out of the bag, before sipping it.

"Like the people surrounding you." Troy said, "The people that care for you and love you."

"I do appreciate them." Sharpay said, pulling her hospital gown over her head, revealing a red bra, "I'd just like to do regular teenage stuff too." She bend down and picked up a pink tee, which she pulled over her head too, "And don't look at me like that, Troy, it's just a _bra_!"

"Yeah, but it's a really nice one!"

Sharpay giggled and smacked him on the arm, before pulling the white shorts off too, revealing red panties, "And they're not special either!" she told him, taking on her jeans.

She picked up a pair of flip-flops from the floor and took them on, "I'm ready to go. Do you want to take me home?"

"Sure," Troy smiled, reaching out to take her hand, "Shall I take your bag?"

Sharpay threw it to him, "Thanks!"

"My pleasure." Troy smiled.

They walked out of the room. It went a little slow, because Sharpay wouldn't walk too fast. After reaching the reception, they met Troy's mom.

"Hey Troy!" she smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"Taking Sharpay home," Troy said, gesturing towards his… girlfriend? "Mom, this is Sharpay; Sharpay, this is my mother."

"Oh hi!" Sharpay greeted, sticking her hand out to shake Mrs. Bolton's, "You're doctor Gellar's new nurse, right?"

"Yeah, are you one of his patients?"

"Have been for years." Sharpay smiled, "Do you mind if Troy stay at my house for dinner, I think my sister will like to repay him for taking me home, by forcing some of her delicious ice cream into his mouth."

"That's all right with me," Mrs. Bolton smiled, "I'll see you later then, Troy."

"Yeah, bye mom"

"Bye!" she turned around and went down the hall. Troy took a faster grip at Sharpay, and they went outside and into his car. Ready to head the Evans resident.

--

"That's it for today, people!" Mrs. Darbus hollered, turning on the lights in the auditorium.

Gabriella sighed, and went to find her bagpack. She'd have to ask Ryan if she could catch a ride home with him. Sure, he'd have to drive a little longer, but she was sure that he didn't mind. He was a nice guy.

She turned to him, turning on her sweet smile, "Hey Ry, can I catch a ride with you?"

"Sure, any time, Gabby." Ryan smiled.

They went outside and found his car in the parking lot. Ryan turned the car towards Gabriella's house, and on the way they talked about this and that, and soon they were in front of her house.

"Thanks for the ride, Ryan." Gabriella nodded, "Say hi to Sharpay from me."

"Will do."

"Good!" she hesitated, but leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She pulled away, a blush creeping into her cheeks, "See you tomorrow."

With those words, she left the car.

--

"You can just throw the bag anywhere." Sharpay said, looking at Troy. She turned around to take in her room – the first thing she saw was the big ugly heart machine beside her bed. She groaned and sat down.

"Is that…?" Troy began.

"A machine to keep my heart beating, and my breath down." Sharpay finished, looking at him with big eyes.

Troy laughed and took a seat beside her on the bed, slowly taking her hand. "I like your room." He concluded, mainly because he didn't know what else to say. It was the first time he'd been in her house, and yeah…

"It's nothing special." Sharpay laughed, "It's not like I have a walk-in-closet and my own bathroom like our school thinks. We're wealthy yeah, but not _rich_. Most of our money goes to my hospitalizing anyway. Like these last couple of days."

"I see." Troy just answered, "But I like this anyway. It's casual."

Sharpay giggled, "Yeah well. It's not the material things that matters in our family. It's each other. You know, you grow to appreciate things more when you've lost your parents."

"How did they die anyway?"

"In a plane crash." Sharpay said, "When we were 3. Becca was still pretty young, not even 20, but she said she'd take care of us. She met Matt pretty soon after, and then they got married and had Brooke, while Ryan and I grew up. Well of course, I'm leaving out the detail of when we found out about my disease. It was when I was 4."

"How did you notice, anyway?"

"One day, Ryan and I were playing on the swings in the park. Matt and Becca were there. It was pretty soon after our parents were dead, but it was one of our happy days. It was Becca's birthday, so we had an outing with a picnic and everything. Then we were swinging back and forth, and Ryan dared me to jump from the swing. He wanted to see who could jump the longest. So we tried, but when I landed in the sand, I suddenly couldn't breathe. Becca thought I'd hit my stomach hard, and that was all, but Matt noticed my pale face, and he took my wrist and felt my pulse. Two seconds after that I blacked out." She paused, "And when I woke up again, they told me that they had called an ambulance, and that I was okay."

"But you weren't?"

"They couldn't explain the disease and it's causes for a 4 years old, so they took it slowly. When I turned 12, they told me just how it was, and that I was going to die someday of it. But I wasn't surprised, I guess I'd seen it coming."

"I'm really sorry, Sharpay." Troy said, "I had no idea you had this disease. I can't understand how you can still be you."

"The disease is a part of me, Troy." Sharpay smiled, squeezing his hand, "It's been there since I was born. I wouldn't be me, if I didn't have it."

"I guess so." Troy smiled.

Sharpay shot him a smile, and leaned in a kissed him lightly on the lips, "I'm glad you're here with me."

"I'm glad too."

--

During dinner, the 7 of them chatted like they'd known each other for ages. Brooke and Ben took liking of Troy the moment he told them hi, and said he wanted to play ´Go Fish´ with them after dinner.

Becca and Sharpay mainly talked about everything, and how it was going to be for the next two weeks. And also all the arrangements. Sharpay was going to take two more pills everyday plus the ones she usually took. She'd have to be in bed for 14 hours, nights included. Which resolved in ten hours to sit by her computer, or walk around a little.

The time would be less and less everyday, until she was ready to only sleep during the nights.

Sharpay hated when she to stay home like that. It was a long time since she had been doing that, but she knew she had to do it. No more chit-chatting about it. It was for her own good.

Matt was talking to Ryan and Troy (when _he_ wasn't talking to Ben and Brooke about super heroes), and they had a man-to-man talk. Both Matt and Ryan wanted to know what was going on between Troy and Sharpay, plus, they wanted to make it clear that if he ever hurt her… Well, it would do him no good.

When dinner was done, Sharpay and Troy played ´Go Fish´ with Brooke and Ben, while the other three cleaned the kitchen. When they had played for awhile, and the clock showed 7:30., Sharpay followed Troy to the door.

"You'll step by tomorrow, right?" she asked.

"Sure, Gabriella is coming too." Troy said, "She wants to make sure you're okay. I think something is going on between her and Ryan."

"Ryan has been crushing on her since she came to our school." Sharpay smiled.

"Well, I'm fine with it."

"I know." she looked at her wrist watch, "But I better go to bed. I want to catch some hours right now so I'll have more time with you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yup!" Troy smiled.

They kissed softly, and Troy left the house. Sharpay closed the door behind her, a huge smile on her face.

"He's cute." Becca observed.

"Beyond." Sharpay answered, dreamy. She giggled and walked up the stairs, hopped into her PJ and went to bed.

* * *

_So, the end of this chapter. I hope this was better than the last one, at least I think the end got okay, though some of the parts were bad. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I cant seem to write Gabriella just right, but maybe that's because I don't find her too interesting. But she is a part of this story, and she'll just have to be there, I'm gonna force myself to write her better in the next chapter. Anyway, leave me a review, please? I just love them so much… : ) _

_Friends quote from "The One Where Ross is Fine"; _

**_Ross_**_: Hey, hey, hey... If you two are happy, then I'm happy for you. (Squeaky.) I'm fine! _

**_Joey_**_: Really? _

**_Ross_**_: Absolutely. (Very Squeaky.) I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, (deep voice) I'm fine. I'm not saying I wasn't a little surprised to see you guys kissing. I mean, at first I was like.. (Screams.) But now that I've had time to absorb it; Lovin' this._

_Aaah lol, hope you don't get annoyed with the quotes? Anyway, **tootles, **Stessa. _


	9. Chapter 8

_Hi, thank you so much for the reviews. I know I always say this, but they mean so much to me. _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own Troy, Sharpay or any of the other characters from High School Musical. They belong to Disney._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 8. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

The next day was plain boring for Sharpay. She stayed in bed until 2:30, and then she figured, she might as well take a bath and get ready for Troy to come. It would be nice to just look a little dressed up for him. Just because she was tied to a bed all morning, didn't mean she had to look like a mess.

She took a nice bubble bath, and picked out a cute skirt with a white top. She brushed her hair and did her make-up. Not too much, just a little. She went into her room, and started cleaning up a bit.

Finally, when the clock showed 4:18, she heard Ryan's car pull into the driveway. She hurried downstairs, and opened the door before they were even on the front porch.

Troy hurried out of the car, and enveloped her in a big hug. He swung her around, while she giggled. "Hi Pay!" he said.

"Hey!" she laughed, "Hi Ry, hi Gabriella."

"Hi," Gabriella shyly said, awkwardly waving.

"Come on in." Sharpay said, "We don't want to be standing out here the whole afternoon, now do we?"

The foursome went inside, and took a seat in the kitchen, where Sharpay placed 4 cups, and some lemonade on the table.

"Becca has gone shopping for dinner, and is picking Brooke and Ben up on her way home." Sharpay told Ryan, sitting down beside Troy on one side of the table, while Gabriella and Ryan were sitting on the other side.

Ryan nodded, "What did you do today? Got bored?"

"Oh, just a smidge!" Sharpay replied, pushing her hair behind her shoulder. She rolled her eyes, "I woke up around 9. Then I could just lie there and stare into space. Around 10, Becca finally noticed I was awake and brought me something to eat. She turned on the TV, how _nice_ of her!"

Troy laughed, and placed his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, "Don't worry, Pay, you'll be able to do much more in a week or two."

"Oh, Gee!" Sharpay said, "I can't wait to get back to school now! Everybody knows I'm sick, that is just my dream come true."

"I'm sorry, Sharpay." Gabriella said, finally opening her mouth, "We couldn't really stop words from spreading. People knew just like _that_." she snapped her fingers.

"It's not like it's your fault." Sharpay said, "I'm just really happy you're here. I mean, this is good for me, now you can support me too. Well," she rolled her eyes, "_Because_ I'm gonna need it, starting school."

"I'll support you all the way." Gabriella smiled.

"Good," Sharpay stood up, and went for the door, "C'mon Gabby, I have something to show you."

Gabriella looked confused, but she stood up and followed Sharpay. They wordlessly walked upstairs, and into Sharpay's bedroom.

Sharpay sat down on the bed, and pulled Gabriella with her. Gabriella looked around for some time, taking in Sharpay's room. It was nothing like she'd thought it would be, but then again… Sharpay was not mean either. She was not icy.

Sharpay roamed through her desk drawer, and found something. She pulled out Gabriella's hand, and placed it in there, keeping her hand on top of hers, "It's for you." she said, "I got it from my mom. Well… Becca got it from my mom before she died. But when I got sick, Becca thought I should have it."

"What is it?" Gabriella asked. She wasn't able to open her hand, because Sharpay's hand was still firmly clasped over hers.

"It is a necklace. The pendant is split in two." Sharpay told her, "My mom told Becca to give it to someone special, you know, the other part. But Becca didn't want to wear it. It was my mom's old one, and she knew her too well, so after she died, Becca wouldn't touch this. She gave it to me when I turned 6 or something. She told me to give it to someone special, just like mom had told her. I wanted to give her the other part, but she still wouldn't touch this. Then I thought about Brooke, but…" Sharpay shrugged, "I want you to have it. It is something special. Just as I think our friendship can be."

Gabriella had tears in her eyes, she was an emotional girl after all. "Thank you."

Sharpay finally moved her hand, and Gabriella opened her fist to look at the pendant. It was already in a chain, ready to put on. It was the half of a heart, just like most of those jewellery were. But this was somehow different. It wasn't ripped down the middle like always, instead there were two small holes shaped as hearts too, in the pendant. Gabriella assumed that Sharpay's pendant would fit underneath hers.

Sharpay pulled out hers, and took it on, while Gabriella did the same.

"Look at us now!" Gabriella smiled "We're pendant friends!"

Sharpay giggled, and pulled Gabriella into a hug. It would be the start of a special friendship.

--

The two weeks Sharpay had to spend in her room, went by slowly.

The mornings until noon were spend in bed, either reading or watching TV, while all afternoons and evenings were spend in the kitchen or in the garden with Ryan, Gabriella and Troy.

Sharpay and Gabriella soon learned that they had many things in common. They both loved to act, sing and dance. They both had the Harry Potter series as their favourite books, and they enjoyed watching musicals like ´Grease´ and all.

Gabriella and Ryan started dating. They had been out on a few dates now, and they really liked spending time together. Troy and Sharpay had had some alone time too, and Sharpay was happy to say, that the new drug actually did work. Her heart didn't start beating like crazy whenever she was near Troy now, which was good, because then she would have been in bed all day.

It was Monday morning now, and Sharpay was going to school.

_(Why did I skip the weeks in bed? Simply because there's nothing to write. She's not aloud to do ANYTHING. I would only have been able to write their afternoons, but I thought that would be a little boring, so we're gonna skip to the fun part)_

She knew it was gonna be tough. People would without a doubt, want to know what was wrong. She knew Mrs. Darbus would most likely ask her to explain it to the class, and Sharpay dreaded that. It was one of the many reasons she had decided to keep her sickness a secret. It would cause way too much time waste and tears to explain to everybody what was going on.

She decided to dress up casual. She figured, that now when everyone knew about her, she wouldn't have to dress up any longer and act icy to keep them away. Maybe if she fell on her knees, begging, they would do it out of pity.

She could only hope.

She dressed in a pair of grey very loose sweatpants. A light pink tee and a pair of vans. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail, put on a little make-up, and decided to leave it with that. She got her books and headed downstairs to get Matt to sign a note to pass gym, and maybe drink a little soymilk.

"Are you okay, Paypay?" Brooke asked, worriedly padding Sharpay's cheek. That little girl was so sweet sometimes. Sharpay's heart melted by the little gestures her niece did for her. It was what made her days when she was really down.

"Yeah I am, Brookey," Sharpay smiled, squeezing her hand, "I'm just not feeling too well today, but it will get better, don't worry too much."

Brooke blinked, "250, remember?" she said, "You promised to turn 250 for me?"

"Don't worry." Sharpay repeated, "I'd never lie to you. Of course I'm gonna turn 250."

Becca interrupted them, "Girls, as lovely as your little chat is, you both doesn't have time for this. Brooke, get dressed, and Pay, your driver is honking his horn outside, go get your brother."

Sharpay smiled and rushed into the living room to find Ryan. He was catching the early news. She dragged him with her outside, to find Troy and Gabriella in Troy's car, waiting for them, so they could go to school together.

Troy and Gabriella had worked everything out, and was now able to speak to each other, and apparently they'd both survived their drive together, so that was a good thing.

Sharpay took shotgun, which Gabriella had left open for her. Ryan took a seat in the back, next to Gabriella.

"Morning!" Troy smiled, kissing her lightly on the lips, "Are you nervous?"

"Oh, just a little." Sharpay smiled, "But I guess I'm gonna be okay with you guys around."

"Of course you will!" Gabriella butted in, putting her head between their seats, "Special friends, remember?"

Sharpay shot her a smile, "Always."

"Did you take your pills?" Troy asked her.

"Do I look like an idiot?" Sharpay asked, "Do I look like someone who wouldn't take her pills? Of course I took my pills, silly, but thanks for caring."

The car burst into laughter as Troy started the car again, to head off to school.

--

Sharpay took a deep breath, standing beside Troy's car. She closed her eyes, and calmed herself. She was so nervous, she wanted to cry. She had never felt this way before. Just imagining the looks people were gonna give her, was making her burst into tears. It was horrible.

She felt someone take her hand, and squeeze it tight. She looked up and into Troy's warm blue eyes. He somehow managed to calm her. She knew it was gonna be okay, she just didn't know how.

"Ready, Shar?" Gabriella asked, giving her a reassuring smile.

Sharpay nodded, and Ryan and Gabriella took the lead. They were entering the school with joined hands, announcing their relationship. It was all planned, because they thought it might take some of the heat off of Sharpay. But she too was announcing her relationship with the basketball star.

When the doors smacked closed behind them, it made an unbelievable high sound. Everyone turned around and looked at them. At first they noticed Ryan and Gabriella, but they soon saw past them, and noticed Sharpay.

The halls started bussing with whispers, and odd looks, as the foursome made their way between the crowd, towards their lockers, which luckily enough were close to each others.

But of course, some of the students, couldn't control their questions, and had to approach them:

"Sharpay? Yo, Ice Queen!" one of the skater girls said, "I heard you died, I guess that's not true? What is wrong with you? Did you get too cold?"

Sharpay ignored her and simply scooted closer to Troy, him being her support.

"Are you two dating?!" Chad asked, pointing between Sharpay and Troy … and Ryan and Gabriella.

"Oh my God!" Taylor, who was right behind him, exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me, Gabby? I'm your best friend!?"

"I didn't really have time…" Gabriella trailed off, looking at Sharpay with a glimpse in her eye, "I was at Ryan's house all week, spending time with the guys."

"Oh my God, yes!" Taylor said, realizing that Sharpay was there, "I didn't even recognize you, Sharpay. Are you okay? I've been worried about you, you just fainted!"

Sharpay shot her an insecure smile, "I'm okay, Taylor, but thanks for caring."

"You're welcome!" Taylor said, and then she turned to Gabriella again, "See? I told you something wasn't right with her? But did you listen? Nooo! Nooo! You didn't listen. And who was right, and who was right? Me! Oh yeah!"

The gang burst into laughter as Taylor stopped rambling, and she found it so amusing that she joined them herself.

"Homeroom?" Ryan suggested.

"You bet." Chad answered, knowing that now, they weren't a group of four or three - They were a group of six.

They continued down the hall, and went into homeroom, where they found their usual seats. People were giving them stares (especially Sharpay) but they didn't care much for it.

They had something.

As the bell rang, Mrs. Darbus entered the room, and got a huge smile on her face as she saw her favourite student; "Sharpay! My dear, how are you feeling? You gave us quite a shock!"

"I'm okay, Mrs. Darbus." Sharpay smiled, nodding too.

"Would you care to share what happened? I know people have been wondering much about this."

"Sure." Sharpay replied, stiffening though.

"Come up front." Mrs. Darbus said.

Sharpay stood up and looked at the class, nervous. "Uhm… Yeah well, I'm not gonna wrap anything up or_ something_… I uh, I have a heart condition. I'm avsd-commune positive. Which means I have a hole in my heart. It's nothing rare, actually around 0,7 percent of all newborns have it, but most of them is able to live with it. Someone doesn't even discover they have it before they turn 50. Anyhow, my problem is, I also only have 1/3 part of my heart septum, plus only one big heart valve." She took a breather and locked eyes with Ryan, and then she continued, "Which means that I'm not aloud to run, swim, do gym class, or… for that matter, dance."

"But…" Mrs. Darbus butted in, "You've danced a lot?"

Sharpay looked at her and shot her a smile, "It's really about which kind of dance it is. My sickness was the reason for Ryan trying to let us do something else than hip-hop at the auditions." She told her, "It didn't matter anyway, I fainted just from singing!" she giggled, but stopped when she saw the class frown, "What?" she asked.

Zeke looked at her, crooked eyebrows, "How can you be so calm about this?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "I am because I don't want to spend my already shortened life by worrying, okay?"

"Shortened life?" Taylor asked, "You're not dieing, are you?"

"My doctor expects me to turn 30." Sharpay smiled.

"Only 30?" Chad asked, "Wow, that's not a lot."

"So, you see," Sharpay continued, "Half my life is already over, and yeah… I don't really have much else to say then just… _Please_ don't treat me different, because I can turn icy again!"

Troy laughed, "I highly doubt that, Paypay."

"You'll see." Sharpay smirked, sitting down at her seat again.

Mrs. Darbus smiled, "Well, thank you for sharing, ms. Evans, nice to know you're up and about again for now. And as you probably know, Gabriella has taken your part in the musical."

"I know." Sharpay nodded, "It's not like I would be aloud to do it anyway." She turned around and shot Gabriella a smile, "And Gabby and I are friends now. I only want good things for her."

Gabriella laughed, and Sharpay joined her.

Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all. So, the school knew? Big deal. It wasn't that hard telling the class, and as long as she had Ryan, Troy and Gabby, she knew she could get through it.

* * *

_And I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I figured, I might as well make Sharpay kind and sweet to everyone, because they all knew about her anyway. And the explanation thingy; needed too. So, I feel like I'm losing my touch on this story, or is it just me? Please leave me a review though. _

_And this quote is for Nathalie, my dear msn-buddy; _

_**Joey**: Hey Ross. If homo sapiens were in fact "homo sapiens", could that be why they're extinct? _

_**Ross**: Joey, homo sapiens are people. _

_**Joey**: Hey! I'm not judging here._

_Uh, so remember to leave that review, right? **Tootles, **Stessa, _


	10. Chapter 9

_Hi, thank you for the reviews. Sorry, it's been awhile since I updated, but I've been focusing on "Forbidden Beauty". Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it :) _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 9. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Sharpay found a seat in the cafeteria along with Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Taylor and Chad. It was lunch and she was hungry. People were still starring her down, except when someone from Sharpay's class asked them to look the other way. She was grateful for that. She eyed Kelsi telling some guy off, and reminded herself to thank her later.

Zeke found the seat across from her, "Shar? I've got something for you."

"What is it?" Sharpay asked, all giddy. She loved surprises!

"Hmm, Troy told me you would be back at school today, so I baked you some of your favourite cookies!" Zeke placed a box before her and opened it, revealing a very good smell, "For you."

"Oh, thank you Zeke!" Sharpay said, truly meaning it, "But I'm sorry… I don't think I'll be able to eat them."

Zeke's face sunk, "Why not?"

"I'm not aloud to do any exercise, and uh… these cookies are really fattening. I really have to watch what I eat now."

"I see." Zeke said.

"But…." Sharpay trailed off, "Do you think you could bake me some fat-free cookies? It's really not a bad excuse for not wanting your cookies, Zeke, I can't eat them. I'd get fat."

"And so?" Troy said, "You wouldn't get fat _fat_. So, you'd gain a few pounds, big deal?"

"Big deal!" Sharpay squealed, "Big deal for me. What wouldn't you say if I ended up double size?"

"I'd love you no matter what." Troy whispered, planting a kiss on her lips.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah right." She turned to Zeke again, "But will you, Zeke?"

"Of course," Zeke said, "Anything for you."

"And until then…!" Sharpay went on, "The rest of you can share these!" she pushed the box into the middle of the table, and the rest of the friends digged in immediately.

"These are good, Zeke!" Taylor said, chewing hers, "You have to teach me how to make these?"

"Why don't we have a baking day, one day?" Ryan asked, "We could totally do it at our house? And then have like a sleepover too? How about this Friday?"

"Oh yai!" Gabriella clapped her hands together, "Just us? Oh no! Zeke you should invite a girl too. Then we'll be an even number!"

"Do you think it's okay with Matt and Becca?" Sharpay asked, questioning her brother.

"Matt, Becca, Brooke and Ben are visiting Matt's parents." Ryan said, "The whole weekend. For obvious reasons, you can't go, so I told them we'd stay behind. I'm sure they wont mind us having friends over."

"Oh, great!" Sharpay smiled, "But if that is, we could just ask Kelsi. Then we're even boys and girls."

"That's fine with me." Zeke replied.

"Deal then." Chad said, "I'll talk to my mom."

"Me too." Gabriella and Taylor said.

"I'll be there." Troy said, smiling at Sharpay, "I'm sure my parents wont mind."

"Oh, goodie!" Sharpay smiled.

--

After school, Troy and Sharpay found themselves walking in the park, Brooke and Ben between them. The both of them were swinging back and forth, and Sharpay and Troy had to use all their strength to keep them off the ground, when they jumped.

Brooke broke free from their grasp as the playground came into sight, and hurried to the swings. Ben let go of their hands a little while later, sitting down on his butt in the sand, starting to build a castle of sand.

"Troy!" Brooke yelled, "Come push me, will you!?"

Troy looked at Sharpay, who looked pale and tired, "Will you be okay by yourself?"

She nodded, "I'll go sit down on the bench over there." Sharpay said, pointing towards it, "Just to take a little rest."

"You're not feeling bad, are you?" Troy asked.

"No, I'm fine." Sharpay shot him a small smile, and turned around to approached the bench.

Troy looked after her, making sure she reached the bench, and then he turned around and went to push Brooke. He really loved those two kids already. Brooke and Ben were the most sweet, adorable kids you could ever dream of, and since he didn't have any siblings himself, he enjoyed spending time with them.

"Yai!" Brooke squealed, as her swing reached higher and higher, "More, Troy! Faster and faster!"

Troy laughed, pushing her back and forth. Just then a loud cry was heard, and he turned around to find Ben crying in the sand. Some other boy was jumping up and down on his castle of sand.

"Can you do this yourself for awhile, Brooke?" he asked, "I have to go check on your brother." He didn't wait for her reply, but simply went to Ben, and kneed down next to him. The other kid left as soon as Troy got nearer, "What is up, little fellow?"

"He ruined my castle!" Ben cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Why don't you go play on the swings with Brooke while I talk to Pay?" Troy asked, shooting a nervous look towards her. She was leaning against the bench, her eyes closed. She was probably half asleep.

Ben nodded, and rushed up to go have fun with his sister.

Troy stood up and walked across the playground and took a seat next to Sharpay, "Pay? Are you sleeping?"

"Now…" she whispered, "I'm just really, really tired. I need to go home." She squeezed her eyes together. She could feel a terrible headache coming along, "I think I need some rest and a pill."

"You are feeling bad!" Troy exclaimed, "Just walk home now, Pay. I'm gonna gather Brooke and Ben, and I'll be there soon."

"Okay…" Sharpay whispered, standing up from the bench, "See you later then." She walked a few meters, until she was out of sight. She leaned her back against a tree and closed her eyes again. She wouldn't make it home. She had to call somebody. She pulled out her cell, and dialled Chad's number, knowing he would probably be able to pick her up.

When he answered the phone, she quickly explained him what was going on, and 5 minutes later, he was there, ready to take her home.

"Are you okay?"

"No…" Sharpay shook her head, and leaned against the seat in the car, "Don't tell anyone, I don't want them worrying. My head is just killing me. I wanna sleep."

"Don't you think you should tell someone?" Chad asked.

"Nah…" Sharpay said, "I'll go to bed when I come home, and if I'm not feeling better tomorrow, I'll call doctor Gellar."

"Okay." Chad said.

The drove in silence for the rest of the ride, and when they reached Sharpay's house, she gave him a friendly hug, and pulled herself out of the car, "I'll see ya' tomorrow, Chad." She smiled, and watched him drive away again. She went inside, not bothering to tell anyone she was home. Troy was gonna be there soon, he could tell them.

She went into her bathroom, changed into her nightgown and took out her different pills, looking for the right one. She found it, and quickly swallowed it. Then she went into her room and threw herself on the bed, not before making sure she was hooked up to her machine, just in case she fell asleep and couldn't breathe.

--

Sharpay woke up again the next day. She couldn't believe she'd slept that long. She didn't even know if Troy had been there or not, but she assumed he had, since she could hear Brooke and Ben having a fight over the last cereal downstairs.

She sat up, and silently turned her machine off.

She felt a little better, but not too much. She really didn't like it. She had felt all good yesterday morning, but… Now she felt ready to get hospitalized again.

She stumbled out of bed, and got ready in the bathroom. Took her pills, showered, dressed. Then she headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning." Becca said, turning to her, "I didn't even know you came home yesterday. Suddenly Troy came back with Ben and Brooke, telling me you were upstairs. So I went to look for you, but you were fast asleep. What happened?"

"I just felt really bad in the park." Sharpay said, sitting down by the table, "It's not a big deal. Just a little headache."

"Okay," Becca nodded, placing a cup of soymilk in front of her, "Drink."

Sharpay smiled, and drank it all at once. When she was finished, she heard Ryan coming downstairs, which meant they would leave for school. "I'll see you later." Sharpay smiled, waving at her family.

She hurried outside and into the car, and then they drove to school.

When they were holding at the parking lot in school, Sharpay turned to Ryan, "Ry…" she said, "I want you to know something. I decided to take my purple pills."

"You did?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah… I don't know, but something is up. So you'll probably have me running around like crazy all day once it starts working. Just make sure to keep an eye on me for when I'm about to lose my breath."

"Always," Ryan said. He gave her a hug, "Ready lil sis?"

She nodded and they headed into the school and met up with their friends.

--

That Sharpay had said she'd be running around like crazy, was a lie. She didn't just run around like crazy. She hurried down the halls during break, and danced around, telling the rest of them how slow they were.

She almost couldn't stay at her seat during class, and more often than once, she asked the teacher to go to the bathroom, just to be able to move.

The purple pills were the cause of that. She was only aloud to take them when she felt like she couldn't even drag herself out of bed. They weren't healthy for other parts of her body, but sometimes they were necessary. They gave her energy, that she had to run and shake off, but she still had trouble moving around because of her heart.

So sometimes she had to lie down on her back for around 2 minutes to catch her breath, but then she'd stand up again, just as full of energy as before she lay down.

Right now they were walking down the hall, Sharpay bouncing around the rest of them, "You guys are boring!" she squealed, "C'mon, loosen up there! Have some fun. You wanna dance, Chad?"

Chad, Ryan and Taylor had trouble keeping in their laughter. She was really funny, acting like a little 5 year old. The only problem was that the situation wasn't funny at all. If she wasn't high on those purple pills right now, she'd been lying in her bed, hooked up to her machine, still having trouble breathing.

"Calm down, Pay!" Troy said, taking her hand, "You need to slow down a bit…"

She jumped into the air, but just then she stiffened. She got a serious look on her face, and then she slid down the wall next to her, resting her head against it. She started breathing pretty hard, placing a hand on her heart. She looked at Ryan and shot him a little smile.

"I'm okay." she breathed.

Ryan nodded, "Just take your time."

A few curious students stopped to watch what was happening, but Sharpay didn't give it a thought. She didn't care anymore. Let them think what they will.

Just then her breathing became regular again and she shot up from her seat on the floor, and started bouncing around Kelsi and Zeke, "Guys!" she said, "Guys, you wanna go play football with me!? We can make two teams, boys against girls. C'mon it could be fun!"

"Sharpay!" Zeke said, "We're in school, we cant play football now."

"Are we having gym?" Sharpay asked, a huge smile on her face.

"Shar!" Gabriella said, "You're taking it all out of us, we're not high on some drug, we can't run around all day."

"Joy-kill!" Sharpay mumbled, and then she started dancing down the hall, singing ´Breaking Free´. The hall parted before her, like always, but not for the same reasons. People were a bit afraid of her, and what was happening.

Troy bit his lip, "I better go after her." he mumbled, and hurried down the hall too.

* * *

_Okay, so I'm not kidding with Sharpay in this chapter. It's really serious. One minute it's like… you're high, running around, dancing, singing, and you can't even stop yourself, and the next minute… The heart starts beating like crazy and you have to lie down, just a couple of minutes, and then you're back on track. It's crazy. And anyway, please leave me a review, ask me if there's something you don't understand, and I'll either give you a reply or make it clearer in a future chapter. Thanks,_

_Friends quote; _

_**Rachel:** Alright thanks, oh Ross could you stop by the coffee house and get me a muffin? _

_**Ross:** Sure what kind? _

_**Rachel:** Umm let me think...What do I want, what d-o I w-a-n-t... _

_**Ross:** Please take your time, it's an important decision. Not like, say, I know! deciding to marry someone, this is about a muffin._

_I'll be back with more as soon as possible, **tootles**__;p_


	11. Chapter 10

_Hey, thanks for the reviews. I still love them, and I still love you for reviewing. _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own HSM._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 10. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**-**

"And then you add in the milk and the vanilla," Zeke said, pouring the glass of milk into the bowl, while Taylor added the vanilla, "And then…" he continued, "Mix it all together, and that's all. Now you need to form the cookies, and then you can put them in the oven."

It was Friday, the night for the sleepover, and they were gathered in the Evans' house, Zeke teaching them how to make chocolate chip cookies. It was really fun, because it turned out that Kelsi was really bad at it, and ended up pouring salt into the first bowl they made, and they had to throw it out and start over.

The 6 of them were gathered in the kitchen, listening to Zeke's babbling, but Troy and Sharpay were sitting outside on the front porch, looking at the stars. Troy had his arm around her, and she rested her head on his chest, enjoying the feeling of him there next to her. It was lovely that they got a few minutes to themselves, before they would all start watching movies.

"How are you feeling?" Troy whispered, lightly kissing her forehead.

She let out a content sigh, "Just perfect."

"Listen Pay…" Troy said, "How long do you think you'll live...? A long time, or…?" _(A/N - I know that might seem insesitive, or a weird question, but that happened once actually, just not in this situation exactly, but I thought I'd put it in here)_

"I don't know," Sharpay said, smiling at him, "I tend to wonder about it sometimes, but then I snap out of it. I always get to think; that's 10 minutes of my already short life that I'll never get back. You see?"

"I know," Troy said, "It's just that… I really don't want to go through life without you here. Like, graduate and stuff."

"I really hope I'll still be here when we graduate." Sharpay said, "And I most likely will be, but there's also a risk that I wont. We'll deal with it when it comes, okay? Troy, I don't want our relationship to be about all that."

"No, I know." Troy smiled, "We'll just enjoy this we have here."

Sharpay giggled, and leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He didn't let go of her though, and kept her there, wanting more than just a peck on the lips. They kept kissing each other, until someone cleared their throat behind them. They broke apart, and turned to find Gabriella looking at them.

"We're gonna pop in a movie." She said, "You guys wanna join or just sit out here?"

"Of course we're gonna join!" Sharpay said, tempting to get up, "That's the whole point of a sleepover anyway."

Troy helped her stand up and they laced hands and followed Gabriella into the living room, where the others had already found at seat.

Taylor and Chad had taken the big red chair. Zeke and Kelsi had thrown themselves on a blanket at the floor. Ryan had saved the couch for him and Gabriella, so Sharpay and Troy took the other chair, and big comfy, black one.

"What are we watching?" Zeke mumbled, letting the box filled with cookies wander between all of his friends. They each took a handful, and sat up a stock next to themselves, so they didn't have to ask for the box all the time.

"Urgh, we're gonna get so fat, girls." Sharpay said, looking at the pile of cookies she and Troy had placed right next to them.

"We're gonna go for a run tomorrow." Gabriella said, but then she stopped, "Well… Tay, Kels and I are, anyway…"

"I'll just have to starve myself the next few days!" Sharpay said, "Because no way I'm not gonna eat these."

"Hallo!?" Zeke said, from the floor, "You guys still haven't answered my question. And stop whining Shar, you have a great body. The same goes for the rest of you. _Please_, now tell me; what are we watching?"

"How about ´Date Movie´?" Kelsi suggested, holding up the DVD box for everyone to see, "It's really hilarious."

"I haven't seen it." Troy said, "Let's watch it."

The others agreed, and Kelsi plopped the disk into the DVD player, and soon the movie began.

--

When the movie was done, they started chatting about this and that.

"How's it going with the school play?" Taylor asked, looking at Ryan and Gabriella.

"It's going good, I guess." Gabriella said.

"Oh man!" Sharpay then said, "This is the second school play in a row that I'm not in. What's wrong with me?" she giggled a little.

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Well at least, you're not overextending yourself." He said.

"You are so overprotecting, Ry." Sharpay smiled, snuggling closer to Troy, "And you too, by the way, Bolton."

"Oh, so is that a bad thing?" Troy asked, "I thought you liked being with me?"

"There's a difference, you know." Sharpay smiled, kissing him nonetheless.

He kissed her back, holding her head in place.

"If you're gonna do that…" Zeke begun, "Could you please go to Sharpay's room?"

Troy and Sharpay looked at each other and replied, "Sure." And then they left the living room, running up the stairs, hand in hand.

The others looked at each other.

"They're unbelievable…" Taylor said, shaking her head. "I mean, I know they're in love, but so am I, in an ordinary way. You don't see Chad and I filling each other up everywhere. Neither do you, Ry and Gabby."

Kelsi laughed, "I think it's just Troy and Sharpay. And at least they left the room when we asked them to." She sat up and looked at the others, "What do you guys wanna do? Uh, how about Truth or Dare!"

"Oh yeah!" Chad and Gabriella agreed, "That sounds like fun! Let's sit on the floor."

They all sat down together, and looked at each other.

"I'll start!" Taylor said, all giddy, "Gabriella, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Gabriella said.

"Uh!" Taylor smiled, "I dare you to… Oh, I know! Go spy on Troy and Sharpay. We want all the details!"

"I can't do that!" Gabriella said, "For all I know they could be going at it right now, I can't spy on them."

"You said _dare_…" Taylor said, crossing her arms, not budging.

"Fine!" Gabriella gave up. She stood up from the floor and went for the door, she paused in the doorway however, "But if they kill me for looking, I'm blaming you." and with that she slowly and soundlessly went up the stairs. She went down the hall and stopped by Sharpay's door, which was slightly open. She held her breath and looked through it, dreading what she would see in there.

Sharpay and Troy were indeed going at it. They were kissing each other pretty hard, and Sharpay had Troy's blouse half unbuttoned.

Gabriella didn't need to see more, she quickly took a step back, still trying not to make any noise. She went down the stairs, and into the living room again, where she started giggling madly.

"What?" Taylor asked, "What were they doing?"

"Yeah, they were doing second base." Gabriella quickly replied, taking her seat again.

Taylor stared giggling too, while Ryan covered his ears, not wanting to hear about his sisters interacting with her boyfriend.

Gabriella clapped her hands together, "My turn! Chad, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Hmm… Is it true that you still sleep with your teddy bear, or is it just something Taylor made up and told me?"

Chad shot Taylor a hateful look, "You told her!? I can't believe you told her, you are _so_ dead!"

"I guess that sentence speaks for itself." Zeke replied.

The rest of them started laughing, and Chad asked Kelsi, who said dare. Chad told her that it was her turn to check up on the lovebirds now, and the rest of them could only assume, that they would be doing that all night.

Kelsi rushed upstairs, and came back two minutes later, telling them what Gabriella had also told.

They continued to play that game.

--

Troy pulled away from Sharpay, kissing her neck. "Okay, who of them was it now?"

"It was Chad." Sharpay said, giggling like crazy, "So that means, we've had Gabby, Kelsi, Chad and Taylor coming up here to spy. Who do you think is the next one? Zeke or Ryan?"

Troy chuckled, "I don't know, but shouldn't we mess with them?"

"How so?" Sharpay asked.

"Well… My parents aren't home either, so we could jump out of your window, go down the street and have some real alone time there. You know, a time when I can actually take off your top, because I know no-one will come spying?"

"That sounds like fun." Sharpay replied, getting out from underneath Troy, "But we have to hurry, I think the next one is coming soon."

They had noticed Gabriella when she'd been outside the door, but haven't said anything. They thought it was just some stupid thing she had to do, but when Kelsi showed up too, they suspected something. And after that both Chad and Taylor had been there too.

But now it was time for Troy and Sharpay to do the teasing.

--

"Zeke," Taylor said, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Zeke answered, his voice firm.

Taylor squeezed her eyebrows together, and simply pointed upstairs, indicating that it was Zeke's turn. Zeke groaned and pulled himself up from the floor, made his way out of the living room, and carefully went up the stairs. He stepped in front of the door, to peek through, but was surprised when no-one was there.

He opened the door, stepped into the room, and found it totally empty. He looked around again, and then he hurried downstairs, "Guys!" he yelled, storming into the living room, "Guys!"

"What!?" Kelsi asked.

"There's no-one there!" Zeke said, "They're not there. They're gone!"

"What?" Ryan said, almost laughing, "Of course they're there, they were probably just hiding because they found out we're spying on them."

"No!!" Zeke said, "You are free to go look, but I tell you; they're not there!!"

The rest of them shot out of their seats, and ran upstairs to look for the lovebirds. Zeke just took a seat in the couch, wondering where Troy and Sharpay would have gone off to, but he couldn't figure it out.

Ten minutes later, Chad, Taylor, Gabriella, Kelsi and Ryan came downstairs, weird looks on their faces.

"They really aren't there." Chad said.

"What did I tell you!?" Zeke mumbled.

"The question is then…" Gabriella said, "Where have they gone off too?"

"We have to find them and tease them again!" Taylor said, bouncing around the living room, excited by this whole thing.

"See, that is the problem when we doesn't know where they are." Kelsi said.

"Guys," Ryan mumbled, "That's not the biggest problem we have."

They all turned to look at him, and he pointed his finger at the table by the window. They all turned around to see what he was looking at, and frowned.

It was Sharpay's oxygen cylinder.

* * *

_So I figured I'd end this chapter here. I hope you liked it, and I'll be back as soon as possible. Please leave a review._

_Friends quote; _

_**Rachel:** I cannot believe that you didn't tell me that we are still married!! _

_**Ross:** Look I was going to tell you! _

_**Rachel:** When?! After the birth of our first secret child?!_

_Thank to y'all for reading, **tootles, **Stessa ;p _


	12. Chapter 11

_Hey, so, I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. And thanks for the reviews, those of you who did take the time to leave one, I love you._

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical, but I do own the plot of this story, along with Brooke, Ben, Becca and Matt, whom I made up._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 11. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Sharpay and Troy stumbled into his bedroom, giggling like crazy.

They'd hurried down the street, as fast as possible, considering Sharpay's health, and made it to Troy's house. He'd unlocked the door, and they'd started making out in the living room, but now they were reaching his room, thinking that things may go too far downstairs.

Sharpay had his shirt unbuttoned, and he was half through pulling her top over her head, while still not wanting to let his lips leave hers.

They moved backwards, until Sharpay's knees hit the side of the bed, and they landed there, Troy on top of her.

They continued to kiss.

--

"Oh my God!" Gabriella yelled, running to the table with the oxygen cylinder on it. She looked at it and turned around to the others with a panicked look in her eyes, "What are we gonna do!?"

"We can't really do anything," Ryan said, "She'll only need it if she gets an attack, she must be smart enough to come home during the night. She needs her machine. She wouldn't be that stupid, would she?"

Taylor looked at the table and then at him, "I don't know." she said, shrugging her shoulders, "She's with Troy. If things get too carried away, they wont stop to think."

"I'll try her cell." Kelsi replied, quickly tugging her own out of her pocket.

Chad grabbed his own too, "And I'll try Troy's."

They walked off to try and get through to their friends, while Ryan sat down on the couch, his forehead in deep wrinkles. Gabriella sat down next to him, putting a comforting arm around his shoulder. She was nervous, and her heart was pounding like crazy. She thought she might finally know how Sharpay felt all the time.

"Don't worry," she whispered, "Nothing will happen. They'll be back soon."

Ryan looked at her, and bit his lip, "You're right," he finally said, "She wouldn't be so stupid. She's smarter than that."

Gabriella nodded, "Of course she is. And she's with Troy. He's smart too."

They hugged, and Chad and Kelsi came back into room, both shrugging their shoulders.

"Voicemail." Chad said.

Kelsi nodded, "Same." She looked around, "Do you think we should go looking for them?"

Zeke finally decided to say something, "I know I'm not the one to say this, but… I really think we should stay here. What if they come back? If we go looking for them, it'll be pointless… They can be anywhere."

"I think Zeke is right." Taylor added, "Though I'd hate to see Sharpay get hurt; there's nothing we can do."

"You're right," Ryan said, "But I still think I should call Becca and Matt. Just to let them know."

Gabriella, "Good, you do that, and we'll… pick another movie."

Ryan nodded, hoping that the tension which had quickly been build, wouldn't ruin the rest of their sleepover.

--

Troy woke up, the sound of sharp breaths right next to him.

He sat up in bed, wondering what was going on. He looked at the clock, it was 2:19am, no wonder he was so tired. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to remember what was happening, but he couldn't focus. His attention however was pulled to a petite blonde, who was lying in his bed, taking short breaths, a hand on her heart.

Troy suddenly realized what was happening.

They'd left Sharpay's house yesterday! They'd gone to his house with nothing with them, but themselves, and Sharpay needed her machine during the night! He quickly removed the covers from her body, discovering that she was totally naked underneath… So they'd had sex.

Great.

It was now about to be ruined.

Troy moved her hand from her chest, and placed his own there, trying to figure out how much damage it had done. Sharpay had closed eyes, and he knew he would have a hard time waking her, if she couldn't even breathe.

He didn't know what to do, should he call Ryan and get him to come with the oxygen cylinder or something? Troy bit his lip.

No, the only right thing to do was call an ambulance.

He dialled 911., while he threw on some pants. When he'd explained to them what was happening, he got Sharpay into a pair of his boxers and a loose shirt.

He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all.

--

Ryan, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Kelsi and Zeke rushed into the hospital, still in their nightclothes. Zeke was only wearing boxers, but he'd at least put his jacket on.

Gabriella was in her nightgown, and both Taylor and Kelsi were in their PJs. Chad was wearing a shirt and a pair of shorts, while Ryan was as bad as Zeke.

They looked around, their eyes searching for Troy. They found him, sitting in one of the red plastic chairs. They rushed to him, Ryan ready to blow up.

"Troy!?" he yelled.

Troy looked up, and they saw tears streaming down his face, "Guys!" he said, hugging Gabriella madly, "Guys, she wont wake up. They think she might end up in a coma, and the lack of oxygen may have done some serious brain damage!"

"What the hell were you thinking, Troy!?" Ryan yelled, pushing him against the wall, "Why would you leave the house? You know what is wrong with her! Use your brain!"

"We weren't thinking!" Troy said, "And it was not like we wanted to stay away all night. We just wanted some privacy from you guys, you were spying on us! We intended to come back later on, but we fell asleep on my bed!"

"Your bed!?" Taylor exclaimed, "Great, why didn't we figure they'd be there!?"

Ryan shot Troy another look and sat down in a chair, taking a deep breath, "We called Matt and Becca. They should be here soon."

"What happened?" Kelsi asked.

"I woke up around 2 or 2:30., because Sharpay couldn't breathe. The first thing I did was thinking of calling you, but I knew it had gone too far, so I called an ambulance. Then we got here, and I called you guys. Right before you came, doctor Gellar talked to me. They cant say much yet."

The others sat down too, not replying.

"When will Matt and Becca be here then?" Zeke asked, breaking the tension.

"As soon as possible." Ryan said, biting his lip, "Do you think we can go see her?"

"No." Troy said, "The doctors are working. Look Ryan… I'm really sorry, it was irresponsible of us to do so, but I don't think we realized the consequences, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." Ryan said, sending him a sad smile, "Sorry for almost chocking you."

"That's okay." Troy said, "I deserved it."

Gabriella looked at her watch, and blinked a few times, "Does anybody want a smoothie? We can buy one right down the street. They're open all night."

"That'd actually be nice." Taylor said.

"I'll go get them." Gabriella replied.

"And I'll go with you." Chad said, "Catch you guys later, okay?"

They all nodded, and Chad and Gabriella left the hospital, while the others leaned back in their chairs, resting their eyes.

The next thing they new, Chad and Gabriella were back, but Matt and Becca were there too.

"Ryan!" Becca yelled, pulling her brother into a bear hug, "Oh my God, what happened? Is she okay? Have you talked to doctor Gellar?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders and went to hug Matt too, "They don't know anything yet. But I think they'll he here soon. We'll wait and see. Where's Brooke and Ben?"

"We left them with Cady, you know, my friend?"

Ryan nodded, "Yup."

Just then they heard footsteps, and they all turned around to come face to face with doctor Gellar.

"Hi." He said, serious, "You're all here for Sharpay? Good. Listen… I have both good news and bad news. Good news is, she woke up. She's breathing again, and is alive and all, but the bad news is… She's really weak. I'm afraid she wont make it this time."

* * *

_I'm really, really sorry about my short chapters, but like this I update more often, and I felt right to end it there. I'll be back with more soon, and yay! The alerts are working again: finally. Please leave me a review, you know how much they mean to me._

_**Ross:** Oh._

_(Chandler leaves dejectedly. When the door closes Rachel and Phoebe jump out from behind the curtains and scream…) _

_**Phoebe and Rachel: DANGER**!!!!!_

_(Ross screams like a little girl.)_

_**Rachel:** Ahhhhh, salmon skin roll. (She does the finger thing.)_

_Lol, that episode is one of my favourites. Awesome show, Friends. But HSM is awesome too, right? **Tootles, **Stessa were here._


	13. Chapter 12

_Hey guys ! Thank you so much for the reviews for last chapter. And yay , I just got my Ashley Tisdale CD, so I'm hyper right now, I dunno how many times my mom has yelled at me to turn the volume down, but nuh-uh, not gonna happen! ;p_

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own HSM._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 12.**

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Troy silently opened the door to Sharpay's room and slipped inside, careful not to make any loud noises. She was probably sleeping again. She'd been doing that all weekend. She would wake up a couple of times, but then she'd fall asleep again 10 minutes later, and sleep for a couple of hours.

She was sleeping now too. Of course. So he sat down in one of the comfy chairs next to the bed and took her hand. It was cold, and skinny. She hadn't eaten a lot lately, and Troy knew it. Becca had told him that when Sharpay was either nervous, or could feel something coming up, she didn't eat a lot. A clear sign for the rest of the family to know that something was wrong.

Troy felt bad.

It was his fault she was lying there. Why, oh why did he suggest they left the house? Why? Why, why, why? He felt so stupid! Of course you cant just leave the house when your girlfriend is a heart patient! How dumb can one be?

He squeezed her hand again, and sat by the side of her bed, is head resting on the mattress, just taking in her beauty. Even though she was just lying there, hadn't showered since Friday morning, her hair dirty and messed up, and her face pale, she looked more beautiful than all other girls in the world – combined!

He couldn't believe she was actually there again – much worse than the last time. Doctor Gellar said she wouldn't make it this time. He refused to let her die. He refused to give up hope. Of course she would survive. She was Sharpay Evans, she was the strongest person he knew.

He placed his lips at her forehead and gave her a soft kiss, "I love you, Paypay, so much."

There was a soft knock on the door, and he turned his head to find Becca in the doorway, all alone.

"Hi…" he whispered, looking back at Sharpay again, "I'll leave now if you want time with her."

"No, no…" Becca smiled, "Just stay. I actually want to talk to you a little bit, Troy." She moved across the room and sat down in one of the other chairs. She crossed her legs awkwardly and looked at him, "So… You were with her when she felt bad, or… Ryan haven't really told me anything yet. He doesn't say much."

Troy sighed, "Yeah I was. We were at my house Friday night, we were going to go back to your house to be with the others, but I guess we fell asleep. And I woke up in the middle of the night with Sharpay breathing rapidly next to me, I saw no other way than to call an ambulance."

"Okay…" Becca said, looking lovingly at her little sister, "I guess I should have seen it coming. Sometimes she thinks with her heart and not her brain. That's when she makes mistakes like these. She pulled this trick once before you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she was 9, and… And this girl from her drama class was turning 10., so she held a sleepover for her friends, and Paypay was invited too…" Becca trailed off, "I told her she couldn't go, y'know, but apparently her mind was set on being there, so she snuck out of her room and ran two blocks to the party. We didn't realize she was gone, because we thought she was sleeping, next thing we knew was the girl's parents calling us from their house, they'd just send her off in an ambulance, because she couldn't breathe. She was here for two months."

"Wow…" Troy couldn't help but smile a little, "I guess that's Sharpay, huh? She refuses to be treated different from everyone else. She wants to live a normal life."

"Yeah," Becca paused, "And who can blame her?"

"What do you mean?" Troy asked.

"You know… She always says she wants to live her life the fullest. She says she'll rather die young and have fun, than turn those 10 years older and be careful everyday. I guess that's probably what went through her mind when you guys left our house."

Troy squeezed Sharpay's hand and fought the tears, but they still started streaming down his cheeks, "What is going to happen to her now?"

Becca sighed, "I don't know, Troy." She said, "All I know is that… doctor Gellar says her chances are low. He says that she could make it two months or not until tomorrow. He also calmed me by saying that they could do the heart surgery, risk her life, but also high her chances for survival. He said he wants to talk to her about it, but I'm sure she wont let them do it."

"Of course I wont you_ fool_, my time is up!" Sharpay mumbled, opening her eyes.

"Paypay!" Troy said quickly kissing her cheek, "You're awake? How are you feeling?"

"Uhm…" Sharpay swallowed hard, "Pathetic. Anyhow… What day is it?"

"Sunday." Becca said, "The others have school tomorrow."

"Oh…" Sharpay's face sunk, "Are you gonna…?"

"Yeah. Yeah I am." Becca said, "I'm gonna head up there with Ryan and talk to the principal, and yeah… prepare him if anything happens."

Sharpay nodded, "Fine." She mumbled, "Do you mind giving me and Troy a moment?"

Becca shot them both a huge smile, "Sure, lil sis. Anything for you." she went for the door, "And bye Troy."

Troy smiled at her and turned to Sharpay, "Oh God, Pay, I'm so, so sorry… I- I dunno what I was thinking… We should have never left the house, I feel so stupid!"

"Troy, shut up!" Sharpay said, her voice hoarse, "Maybe we shouldn't have left the house as you say, but… That night meant a lot to me, and I'd rather die now while I've experienced it, than die in 2 years and have not, okay? You understand that, right?"

"But I don't want to lose you…" Troy whispered, kissing her forehead.

"Don't worry," Sharpay smiled at him, "You wont lose me, not really…" she pressed a hand against his chest, as a tear slid down her cheek, "I'll always be in there."

--

"Are you feeling better, Ry?" Gabriella asked, sitting down next to him. She slid a comforting arm around his shoulders, but she somehow knew that there was nothing she could do to make him feel better. His sister was on her deathbed, who could blame him?

"A little," Ryan whispered, looking at her, "Now that you're here."

"I think you should talk to Troy again." Gabriella suggested, "The both of you feel bad, and maybe you will feel better after. He wouldn't mind telling you what they were doing that night. I already asked him, he gave me the big picture, not the details. Just so you know…. she was really happy, Ryan. She wanted to leave the house."

"I know," Ryan smiled, "That is Sharpay for you, but still… I cant help but blame Troy, and I know it's stupid! It's not his fault!"

Gabriella gave him a sweet kiss on the lips, "I'm gonna go see if Taylor is done talking to Shar, so I can for a little bit. You need to find Troy, okay?"

Ryan nodded, "I love you, Gabby."

"I love you too."

--

"Are you afraid?" Taylor whispered, her lips close to Sharpay's ear. Her head was resting on the pillow right next to Sharpay's. She had managed to squeeze herself into the bed, after special request from Sharpay. She said she wanted to be close to everybody before she went away.

"No…" Sharpay whispered, her voice cracking, "Not of dying, really. I'm just…wondering what it's gonna be like, y'know? No-one know what's happening when you leave the world. Is there a heaven somewhere, or do you just turn cold and that's it?"

"I don't know," Taylor said, "I believe in God, I think you're going to heaven. You're just gonna sit up there, and… look out for all the rest of us. You're gonna make sure that we'll all have great lives, you're gonna take care of us. I know it."

Sharpay giggled, "I'd love to take care of you guys. You mean so much to me. I know I've just recently become friendly with you, but… You mean a lot to me, Taylor. Just the fact that you're here with me now. I'm sorry we didn't get to make more memories together."

"It's not too late to change that." Taylor said, taking out her cell phone. She held it up above them, with the back towards them, "Say cheese…" she giggled, and pressed the picture button. After the camera had clicked, she took the phone down to take a look at the picture. "See," she smiled, "We're making memories."

"I'm gonna miss you, Taylor." Sharpay said, squeezing her hand tight, "So, so much…"

"Me too." Taylor said, "You know, missing you!"

Sharpay giggled a little, but the sound soon turned into coughs as she started not being able to breath again. Taylor quickly jumped off the bed and sat in the chair, hoping Sharpay would be fine.

After about 5 minutes of intense coughing from Sharpay's side, she finally lay back and rested her head. Her heart had started beating like crazy again because of all the strength she had to use.

Taylor leaned down and gave her a little hug, before standing up. She smiled and said, "I think Gabby wants to see you now."

She left the room and two seconds later, Gabriella took the seat she'd just been sitting in, "Hi Shar." She smiled, "Tired? Do you want me to come back later?"

Sharpay shook her head, "No… I may not be here later. Stay."

Gabriella stood up and took a seat by Sharpay's legs on the bed, looking like a total goof by the smile on her face.

"Why are you so happy?" Sharpay asked, her voice hoarse.

"Ryan just told me he loved me." Gabriella smiled.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you two, Gabs!" Sharpay shrieked, almost sitting up in the bed to hug her, but Gabriella pushed her back down. "Oh yeah, right…" Sharpay mumbled.

"How are you feeling?" Gabriella asked.

"Honestly?" Sharpay whispered, "Like crap. But that's it. Nothing to change about that. Did Zeke and Kelsi go home?"

"Yeah, they left yesterday morning already." Gabriella said, "They both had plans, and yeah… they didn't feel like they belonged here."

Sharpay nodded a little, "Okay… But I'd like to chat with them, maybe… I dunno, I still have to talk to Chad and Ryan. I've already spoken to Troy, but I guess I could expect him back here soon!"

Gabriella laughed a little, "Yeah, we're all coming by as soon as school ends tomorrow. We wont let you be here by yourself, you know?"

"Well, that's good to know that someone cares." Sharpay replied, smiling at Gabriella, "Listen Gabby… When I'm gone, that necklace I gave you?" she pointed at it and smiled, "Give my half to Taylor, it'll connect all 3 of us."

"Got it, _mom_." Gabriella teased, squeezing her necklace tight, "It really meant a lot to me that you chose me to have it." She whispered, "A lot, a lot."

"Yeah," Sharpay smiled, "But I thought you deserved it, doofus."

Gabriella giggled.

Sharpay sighed, "But Gabby, not to sound rude, or anything… I really want to sleep now, so can you tell the others not to bother me?"

"Sure."

"And hey!" Sharpay added, "Just if I don't wake up again, I love you all."

"We love you too."

* * *

_Okay, so yeah… Mostly talking and such in this chapter, but I guess it was needed. I hope you liked this, and I'll be back with more soon. This story is approaching the end too, but I guess you can feel that, eh? Please leave a review though, I love you all. _

_The lovely Friends;_

_**Rachel:** Hey Pheebs, I'm-I'm taking Charlie shopping, why don't you come and I'll help you find something. _

_**Phoebe:** Ok, that'll be great! _

_**Joey:** Oh, ain't that nice? The three of you trying on slutty lingerie together._

_**Rachel:** That's not what we're gonna do! _

_**Joey:** Why would you ruin it, who was that hurtin'?_

_Lol, talk to you guys later, **tootles. **_


	14. Chapter 13

_Hi you guys. You are fucking amazing! I can't believe you… those reviews just mean so much to me; all of them! It's just like… I'm writing this with the hugest smile on my face, I dunno what I'd do without your reviews, they rock! And the reactions from last chapter… wow… And hey! If you haven't, please check out my new story "Twist of Love", I'm writing it with my good friend AK-tutti, and it's posted on her profile, so… please take a look?_

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 13. **

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

Troy, Gabby, Taylor and Chad were waiting by the school's entrance for Ryan. They wanted to be there for him the minute he stepped in, because they knew that people soon would discover that Sharpay wasn't with him.

Just then he stepped through the door. He looked tired, like he just rolled out of bed, and his clothes was nothing like he usually wore. His shirt was not straightened, it was also just simple and white. Gabriella couldn't figure out where her boyfriend had gone.

She rushed up and into his open arms. She knew he needed it, "Hi sweetie," she whispered, kissing his cheek, "How are you feeling?"

"Better now." Ryan smiled, holding her close to him.

"Hey Becca!" Troy smiled, approaching them along with Chad and Taylor, "Good luck talking to the principle."

Becca rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'm gonna need it. I just know we have to tell him, because… Doctor Gellar fears the worst, so…"

"But we're gonna stay positive!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Yeah, of course we are." Becca said.

"Has anyone heard from the hospital yet?" Chad asked, "Has she… woken up?"

"Yeah," Ryan smiled, "They gave us a quick call before we left, and… Told us everything was fine in the moment, even though her heart rate went up a little, but… That's to be expected, eh?"

"We better get to homeroom." Taylor said, "We'll see you at the hospital later, right Becca?"

"Sure Taylor." Becca smiled, and watching them leave, before she headed towards the principle's office.

"Troy!?" Zeke yelled, storming through the crowded hallways, to approach the group. He stopped before them and caught his breath, "How's Sharpay doing? Is she feeling better?"

Troy shook his head, "Nah… We're going there after school to talk to her… She missed you and Kels when she woke up yesterday."

"Really?" Zeke said, "I feel bad now, but I had to leave."

"Yeah, but maybe it's also better," Gabriella said, "She's too weak to talk to too many people. She'll just overextend herself."

"You're pry right, Gabby," Taylor said, shooting herself into her seat in the classroom, which they'd now reached, "I'm just gonna say hi to her today, we've already had our talk."

"I'm gonna talk to her today, I guess." Chad mumbled, "I think I might cry. I can't stand these kind of things."

"It's okay to cry, sweetie." Taylor mumbled, padding his arm lovingly.

"Take a seat, students!" Mrs. Darbus said, getting the class' attention. "Let me see… Oh, where's ms. Evans?"

"She's at the hospital, Mrs. Darbus," Gabriella said, squeezing Ryan's hand tight, "She got there this Friday."

"Oh, what happened? Nothing too bad, I hope?" Mrs. Darbus asked.

"We don't know yet." Gabriella said, sighing hard, wishing for this conversation to be over.

"Okay… Send her my bet wishes."

"Shall do."

--

"Hi Paypay," Becca whispered, "Doctor Gellar told me you were sleeping now, but I just wanted to sit with you… He told me you're doing fine right now, though you'll only feel worse and worse the next couple of days, until…" she swallowed, "I don't want to think about death right now. I can't imagine what it's gonna be like when you're not here any longer. Matt and I have prepared us self for this happening in many years now, because we knew it was coming, but… Now when it's happening, I'm still caught of guard, and not ready to say goodbye."

Becca let a tear slide down her cheek and took Sharpay's cold, bony hand, "I'm not ready to let you go, Paypay. Not at all. I don't know what I'll do without you. All I can imagine is how sad our lives will be. You've always been the one to cheer the rest of us when we were having a bad day. I couldn't understand why you always were that happy, when you were the one with the dying disease. But now I understand. You didn't want to waste your life."

Becca knew Sharpay couldn't hear her, because she was sleeping tight, but she knew she'd feel better herself after opening up. Even though no-one would respond.

"Can't you let them do the surgery?" Becca whispered, squeezing Sharpay's hand, "Cant you… Can't you let them do it? Maybe you'll survive and then everything can be good again. I don't know what I'm gonna tell Brooke and Ben. They'll both be hurt so much, and miss you more than anyone else. And think about Troy! He's such a sweet boy, why can't you give your relationship a chance by doing the surgery? You deserve a chance to live, Paypay, you're too precious to die."

Becca sighed and let go of Sharpay's hand, "Anyway…" she whispered, standing up, to leave, "That was just what I wanted you to know. I love you lil sis. Forever and ever."

--

There was a knock on the door, and Sharpay happily smiled when she saw a big afro in the doorway. Chad was standing there. She could tell he was a bit insecure, but she waved him in, and he nervously took a seat next to her in one of the comfy chairs.

"Hi…" he whispered.

"Hi."

They looked at each other, not knowing what to say. The two of them weren't exactly known for liking each other, least at all getting along. That had changed though, the liking part that is, because they still didn't get along. In the last few weeks they'd managed to build a friendship, at some sort. It could probably had ended up as a lifelong one, if the circumstances had been different.

"Look, I dunno what to say." Chad admitted, grinning from ear to ear, "I want us to have an actually conversation now. No yelling!"

Sharpay giggled, and reached her hand out to take his. She grabbed it tightly, "You're cool guy, Chad." She said, "In your own funny way. And you really deserve Taylor. You guys are the perfect couple. I'm gonna miss you lots of lots."

Chad squeezed her hand and stood up. He awkwardly gave her a hug, and lingered there a long time, not letting go of the petite blonde, "You're sweet, Shar. You really are." He pulled back and sat down on the bed, right next to her, "We could really have had a great friendship… in it's own… funny, argument-al way."

Sharpay giggled softly again, "Yeah… We could."

"I hope you know I'm sorry for everything I've ever said about you." Chad said, "I didn't mean it… Well, I _did_, but… I didn't know you back then, and if I'd known you, I would have never said it."

"Ditto." Sharpay just replied, smiling brightly at him. He took a deep breath and leaned down and hugged her tightly again. Right now, he didn't want to let her go.

There was a soft knock on the door, and they broke apart to find Ryan looking at them. They smiled at him, Chad gave Sharpay one last hug, before skipping out of the room, to find the other guys.

Ryan stood in the door and looked at her. He already had tears streaming down his cheeks, and he didn't want to say goodbye. He knew he had to do it now though, because the doctors never knew if she'd make it one more day. She'd seen better days, and it was going downhill from there.

She could be gone tomorrow, or she could last a month – they never knew.

Ryan finally stepped into the room and closed the door safely behind him. He wanted privacy. He wanted a real goodbye. He moved to the bed and sat down next to her, where Chad had been sitting minutes before.

"What's up, lil sis?" he whispered, padding her sheets awkwardly.

"Not much, big bro." Sharpay replied, smiling at him, a sad glint in her eye, "What about you? Good day at school?"

"It was okay." Ryan replied, "I missed you though. A lot. Darbus asked where you were, and I told her you got hospitalized again. She's sending you her best wishes. Obviously the principle haven't talked to her yet about you." he sighed, "But that's okay, because Becca just told him this morning. He's probably announcing during lunch break tomorrow or so."

Sharpay flinched, "Does he really have to? Can't he wait until I'm gone and safe me from the embarrassment?"

"You want me to ask him?" Ryan asked.

Sharpay shrugged her shoulders, "It would be nice, but… Really, it isn't a big deal, it's not like I'm gonna face those morons again, anyway…" she giggled, "Just let it be."

"You're strong, Paypay." Ryan said, "I've always admired that about you, because that's a thing I'm certainly not. I don't know what I'll do when you're not here anymore. Who will I go to school with? Dance and sing with? Who will I tell everything to? Shar… You're my everything."

"Ry, you can always dance and sing with Gabby." Sharpay reminded him.

"It'll never be the same." Ryan said, "She can never take your place. She can always only be my girlfriend. She'll never be you."

Sharpay smiled, and took his hands, "No, of course not. She can always only be Gabriella. You have to promise me one thing, Ry; you have to promise me you wont let her slip away from you. Do not push her away when I'm gone. I know you're gonna have a hard time after that, but really,… if you don't hold on to her, you're gonna regret it. She's the strength you'll need."

Ryan let the tears roll freely down his cheeks and squeezed Sharpay tightly into his body, "I love you, Shar. Best sister ever."

"I don't want this to be goodbye." Sharpay mumbled, her voice hoarse.

"It will be," Ryan said, "We'll see each other again, but this is official goodbye, because I cant do it again, sweetie."

Sharpay laughed and let him go. "I love you too, Ryan. Have a good life. Make me proud."

"Will do, lil sis." Ryan said, heading for the door, "And hey!" he pointed upwards, "Say hello to the old ones up there. I miss them." He smiled and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sharpay sighed and leaned back in her bed. Her heart was throbbing, her head was bursting, and her throat was hoarse. She looked at her bedside table, and called the nurse.

--

"Yeah sure," Matt said, holding tightly on to the phone in his hand, "Yeah of course, I'll ask her that. I bet she will. Yeah, I know. Thanks a lot… That means a lot to us. Really? Great, I'll get back to you soon. Okay. Bye." He hung up the phone and turned to face Becca.

"What?" she asked.

"It was the mortician." Matt told her, "I talked to him about a future funeral, and since I mentioned it was for Sharpay… and that he knows Sharpay, he thought she might want to choose a casket herself? What do you think?"

Becca swallowed hard, "I think she'd like that." she whispered, clutching her hands together.

"Okay then," Matt said, "I'll just go down there and get some folders, we better talk to her about it tonight, don't you think? Or… What?"

"Better now than never." Becca said, "What are we gonna do about Brooke and Ben?" she asked, tears in her eyes, "I don't know how to tell them that Sharpay will never be able to play ´Go Fish´ with them again. I don't know how to tell Brooke that her hero, the most important person in her life, the person she's looked up at since she was little – is not going to be there for her anymore! I don't know how to tell her!"

Matt sighed and pulled her into a deep hug, "Bring Brooke and Ben here first thing tomorrow," he said, "Get them the day off from kindergarten and preschool, and just… take them here to say goodbye to Paypay. You owe them that. All three of them."

"I know…" Becca said, "I know. Listen… I'm gonna go home now, and you're gonna find those folders and then talk to Sharpay, okay?"

"Yeah, I need to give her a real goodbye too, anyway…" Matt trailed off.

--

"What do you want?" Matt asked, holding the folder up for her to see, "Oak? Or do you want something else?"

"I want a white one." Sharpay decided, "A really beautiful, white one? Please?"

"Anything for you, Sharpay." Matt said, fiddling with the folder which contained all the white caskets, "Look in this one. Choose exactly the one you want, the price does not matter at all."

"Thanks, Matt." Sharpay said. She took the folder and studied it for awhile, flipping back and forth between the pages. Then she rested her hands on her stomach, and sighed, "You know what? It doesn't even fucking matter which casket I have. I'm dead, I wont know. This is stupid!"

"Shar…" Matt started, but she cut him off:

"Don't ´Shar´ me!" she yelled, "I don't want to hear it! I know these things can be important for some people, but it's not like I'll even know if you give me the casket I want even though I told you to! I can hope you will, because I trust you. But do I know? No. So see Matt, I like this one." She pointed in the folder at a white casket, "But it's your decision in the end."

"Okay then," Matt smiled, taking the folder from her, "Number 12 then. Good choice, Sharpay. I'll make sure you get that one. Now lay back on your pillow, and rest your head, because you're pretty worked up."

"You would be too if you had to pick your own casket." Sharpay mumbled, resting her head against the pillow again. She paused and sighed, "No, Matt. Scratch that. I'm not mad tonight, I'm happy that you're here. I don't want to be mad when I may never see you again. I love you."

"I love you too." Matt said, "And I'm gonna miss you a whole lot when you're not here anymore. Believe it or not, you've always been like a real daughter to me. You're awesome, Sharpay. Great personality. The rest of us could learn a lot from you."

"Promise me to take good care of the others." Sharpay said, "Of Brooke, Ben and Becca. Ryan will take care of himself soon, but take care of them."

"I promise." Matt whispered, hugging her, "But I'll leave you to sleep now. You need to be fresh in the morning. Night, night."

"Night, night."

* * *

_Okay, the end of chapter 13. I hope you liked it, and that it wasn't too cheesy, I dunno, maybe it was? Anyway, please leave me a review, because they still mean so much to me. I don't know what I'd do without them. Thanks,_

_A word from the lovely Friends;_

_**Chandler:** (entering in a bathrobe) I just walked in the bathroom and saw Kathy naked! It was like torture!_

_**Ross:** Y'know if we ever go to war and you're captured, you're in for a **big** surprise._

_Lol, loved that episode. I'll catch you soon, eh? **Tootles, **Stessa ;p_


	15. Chapter 14

_Hey, thank you SO much for the reviews! I don't know what to say… I've been told I'm great with words, but now… whew, I'm lost. Seriously, I cant believe that last chapter had such an affect on you guys, but it's still amazing that I made some of you cry with only words, though I don't want you to be sad… Anyway, thanks a lot! And uh, I hope you wont hate me too much after this chapter. _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical._

_

* * *

_

**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 14.**

**--**

Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

"Attention, attention!" Principal Matsui's voice hollered through the filled cafeteria, getting everybody's attention. The cafeteria immediately got silent, as every each of the students turned their heads towards their principle. He hardly ever spoke to them, so when he did, they knew it was something serious.

5 people were seated near the door, looking at Principle Matsui. They expected big words from him, and they knew he wouldn't disappoint them. Sharpay deserved a few good words from his mouth, after all the time she's putted into the Drama Club as President for it. Principle Matsui knew that as well as them.

Gabriella had Ryan's hand safely tucked in her own, keeping it there for support. Her nails were making marks in his flesh, but they didn't notice, they were too rapped up in their thoughts, and looking at the Principle. Troy sat alone, starring into space. The rest of them knew they had to support him, because the person that would have been the only one to console him, was the one he was grieving for.

Taylor and Chad sat by the end of the table, pressed against each other, needing each other. Taylor had her head in her hands, shaking rapidly. Chad was trying to console her, while taking care of his own thoughts and emotions.

Becca had gotten a call from doctor Gellar before Ryan left home this morning. Sharpay's heart rate had hit minimum and they gave her two days – max. Becca had headed to the hospital immediately, and she promised to come get all 5 of them if things suddenly got out of hand. If she was sure it was goodbye.

So mainly they were sad because of what Principle Matsui was gonna say, but also because of the horrible news.

"I'm afraid…" he began, swallowing hard, "That I have some sad news for all of you." he shot a knowing look to their table, and wasn't surprised to find tears steaming down their cheeks, "One of our dear students, will leave us soon. I'm not talking about going off to a new school or moving to a new city. I'm talking about Sharpay Evans. She got hospitalized again last Friday, and I just got off the phone with her sister. It's soon." He paused, to let it all sink in.

The student body were silent. No-one dared to speak a word. They all shot glances against the gang's table, and wasn't surprised to find tears streaming from their eyes rapidly. Gabriella' make-up was running, Taylor was angrily whipping the tears away with a napkin. Chad had tears in the corner of his eyes, but most of all, he looked shell-shocked. Ryan's head was buried in his hand on the table, but you could hear loud sobs coming from him.

And Troy was… He was doing nothing. He was looking at their Principle. He looked… dead. There were no emotions whatsoever in his features, and he didn't even blink.

"As most you of might now, Sharpay had a heart condition." Their Principle continued, "I don't exactly know what it was, but it's positive that she'll be leaving us soon because of it. Sharpay was… She was a very good student. A very liked student, especially between the Drama Club members. She was President for the Drama Club, and we've been honoured to see her in many school productions. We expect all of you to treat her memory well, after all, she was…"

"Stop it!" Troy suddenly yelled, standing up from his seat, "Stop it!"

"Troy!" Gabriella hissed, snapping out of her tears, "Troy, what are you doing?"

"I'm making him stop!" Troy yelled, wildly gesturing to Principle Matsui, "Stop saying ´was´! She's not dead! She's still alive, and she can still survive, so don't say ´was´! She's still a person!"

"Troy, calm down, man!" Chad said, trying to get his friend to cool off, "He's just trying to-"

"Well, make him stop!" Troy yelled, "Sharpay's still here! She's still alive! So don't use ´was´. She's a person! She's _alive_!"

"But not much longer, Troy!"

They all turned around to find Becca standing in the door, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ryan quickly shot out of his seat, and ran to his sister, enveloping her in a big hug.

"What happened!?" Taylor exclaimed, fearing the worst.

"Doctor Gellar told me to come and get you right now." Becca said, "It's happening. He has given her an hour. He thought you guys might want to be there."

A loud wail was heard from Gabriella as she started to cry even more. She quickly grabbed her things and ran to Becca, the other's right in tow. They didn't care that they were being watched, and that they would miss most of their school day. All they cared about was a last goodbye to Sharpay.

"I'll borrow them for the rest of the day." Becca said, before heading out of the cafeteria.

Principle Matsui turned to the students again, wanting to continue his speech, "Yes, where was I…? Hmm, yes; Sharpay was indeed going somewhere in her life, and…"

--

"Paypay…" Brooke whispered, lightly kissing her aunt's eyelids, "Paypay, wake up for me now. I need to talk to you."

"I…" Sharpay let out a short breath, "I am awake, Brookey." She coughed, "But I'm too tired to open my eyes. What did you want to say?"

"Everybody is here, Paypay." Brooke said, "I am here. Ben is here. Mom and dad. Gabby, Ryan, Taylor and Chad. Troy is here too, Paypay. We're all here with you."

Sharpay let out a small smile, and slowly opened her eyes, to find everybody standing around her bed. "Hi…" she whispered, her voice was hoarse. "Wow, you're all… you're all here."

"Of course we're here, Sharpay." Taylor said, "We couldn't not be here."

Chad shook his head, agreeing with her, "Never. We need to be here."

Troy grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly, "We love you, Pay. We're here for you until the end."

Sharpay had the urge to laugh, but it came out as more of a cough than anything else, and the other's had to watch, as she fought for her breath again, calming down. She closed her eyes, and placed her free hand on her heart, taking a couple of deep breaths, "Thank you." she smiled, opening her eyes a little again.

"Are you going to be an angel now?" Ben asked. He was sitting on her bed, between her feet. His little face was pouty. He didn't understand exactly what was happening. All his mom had told him was that Sharpay wouldn't be there anymore. That she was going to Heaven. And if she went to Heaven, then she'd have to be an angel, right?

"Yeah…" she whispered, "I'm going to be an angel."

"Will you leave us forever, then?" Ben asked.

Sharpay nodded.

"No!" Brooke said, her little face angry, "You cant leave! You promised me! You promised…"

"She promised what, Brooke?" Matt asked, taking his daughter's hand in his.

Brooke began to cry and hugged her fathers legs, "She promised me she'd turned 250!"

"I'm sorry I lied Brookey." Sharpay managed to say, "But please don't be mad at me. I cant go to Heaven if you're mad at me. Please? Forgive me?"

"I love you, Paypay!" Brooke cried and threw herself onto the bed, kissing Sharpay's face all over.

"I love you too." Sharpay said, "All of you." she took a deep breath and they all got a worried look in their eyes as they saw her struggle to take in another one.

"Before I go, I want to thank you all." She said.

"Thank us?" Gabriella whined, "No! We should thank you. You've taught us so many things! Life is short, you've taught me to enjoy it and live the moment!"

"And I just want to thank you for everything, Shar." Ryan said, kissing her cheek, "I'll love you forever. Always be in here, right?" he pointed at his chest and smiled softly at her.

"And I want to thank you, Sharpay." Troy whispered.

"For what?"

Troy let a tear slip and continued; "For teaching me how to believe."

Two soft tears rolled down Sharpay's pale cheeks, and she squeezed Troy's hand hard. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. They could hear the heart monitor's beep going slower and slower and they all knew what was happening.

They let their tears roll. Brooke was at her father's arm, hugging him tightly. Becca had picked up Ben, who was crying. Ryan and Gabriella cried into each other's chests and Chad and Taylor had their hands linked, taking in Sharpay's features.

And as she took her last breath, the heart monitor's beep faded completely.

She was gone.

Troy bit his lip as they all whipped their tears to look at her again. He looked down at his hand, still tucked in hers. Her grip slowly loosened, as her hand lost it's strength. And then it fell from his, and landed beside her body on the white bed.

They kissed her cheek one by one and left the room.

Silence.

Sharpay Evans was gone.

Forever.

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_Yeah right, depressing chapter. Sorry folks, but that's just it. Leave me a review, and yeah… I'll be back with the last chapter soon. Thanks ;o And I hope you don't hate me too much, now?_

_(I'll be skipping my friends quote today, because I don't think it fits the mood. Friends is way too funny)_


	16. Chapter 15

_Hi. Thank you so much for the reviews. They mean so much to me, they really do ;p I hope you know that, and yeah… this is the last chapter, I hope you'll enjoy this, as you've enjoyed this whole story?_

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own High School Musical, and I don't own "Life Will Go On", by Chris Isaak, which is one of my favourite songs._

_

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**Her Heartbeat**

**Chapter 15. **

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Laugh when _nothing's_ funny, Dance when there's no music,  
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,  
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,  
And _always_ live _each_ day like its your **LAST**

**--**

As the 5 friends stepped into the school the next day, all dressed in black, the rest of the students immediately knew what had happened. At first everything got silent, but then little whispers started going through the halls, as the friends made their way down them.

They all stopped by Sharpay's locker, and Troy opened it, he already knew the combination. Ryan had brought a bag to all her stuff, so they slowly started putting clothes and pictures into the bag. Ryan started crying again when he saw a picture of him and Sharpay after the first musical they had ever been in.

Gabriella and Taylor gathered all her books, and went to the library to turn them in again. She wouldn't need them now.

All day long, people gave them odd stares. No-one really dared to speak to them, except a few people who told them how sorry they were, and they really appreciated that.

Everybody had a tough time, making it through the day, but when school was out, they all headed towards the Evans' residents. They were about to go through Sharpay's stuff, and plan the funeral. Becca wanted her friends to have what they wanted from Sharpay's room – to keep some memories, and what they didn't want, she'd figure out what to do with.

"This top is really cute," Taylor said, not really an emotion in her voice. She was holding up a white sparkly top with a flower on it, in front of Gabriella, "You know, normally I would kill to have a shirt like that, it's _ichi_, but seriously, I'll never be able to wear it. It's Sharpay's."

"Maybe we should give it all to charity?" Gabriella suggested. She didn't really feel like wearing any of Sharpay's clothes either, "You know, Shar would probably have approved that."

"I just realized something…" Taylor mumbled, "Shouldn't we like, pick an outfit for her to wear in the casket before we throw anything out?"

"Yeah…" Gabriella trailed off, "That would be a good idea. Don't you think she should wear pink? And some sparkly stuff too."

"Of course," Taylor smiled, "Our little Shar. Hmm, how about that outfit she wore the first day after the Christmas break? Your first day at East High? I've always liked that outfit. It's cute, it's pink and it's _so_ Sharpay."

"That would be a good idea," Gabriella smiled, "Let's find it, and… Yeah, put the rest of her clothes in some bags. Then we can get Matt or the boys to drop it off by the Church. Poor people would love all this."

Taylor nodded and started to roam through her bags.

Gabriella looked down at her hand. Sharpay's necklace was safely tucked in it. She'd gotten one of the nurses to take it off for her the day after Sharpay died. She had promised her to give it to Taylor, but she still hadn't had the heart to do it. She knew it was supposed to be soon, "Um, Tay?"

"Yeah?"

"I have something for you…" Gabriella trailed off, showing her the necklace, "You know Sharpay gave me the other part, right? When I talked to her before she died, she told me to give you her part of the necklace. She said it'd connect all three of us. I know you'll probably be uncomfortable wearing it, but please… It'll mean so much to Sharpay."

Taylor took the necklace, quietly looking at it, as she took it to her eyes, "I will be…" she whispered, "But of course I'll wear it. It's beautiful. I'll never take it off again. It's just you and me, forever, necklace."

"Great," Gabriella smiled, "You want to go through all her pictures from school now?"

Taylor took on the necklace and shot her a smile, "Yeah, let's."

--

Troy starred at her picture, taking in all of her beauty. He couldn't believe that he'd never be able to see her for real again. That all he'd have from now on were pictures. He couldn't believe that he wouldn't be able to talk to her again, to hear her sing. All he could do was listen to the soundtrack from one of her musicals, hearing her song on repeat over and over and over.

He couldn't believe that he wouldn't be able to touch her again – to kiss her. All he would ever have from now on, was the memory of one amazing night. A night which meant the world to him, a night he'd do anything to relive again. But it was also the night which took her last breath.

He slowly lifted her picture to his lips and kissed it, not caring that tears were streaming down his face.

Those people who didn't cry, it was just because they didn't know her. If they'd known her, they would realize what a lose she was for the world. That no-one would ever be able to replace her. That there would never be another Sharpay Evans.

And there would never be another girl for him. She was the one. The one and only. No-one could ever take her place, he couldn't imagine his life without her now. He couldn't imagine finding another girl, ever. She was just… it.

--

The funeral was beautiful.

Of course it was. It was very beautiful.

Practically all of East High were gathered there. The teachers, the students, the gang. Sharpay's family were there too. Brooke and Ben were both clinging on to Becca, as the vicar spoke wonders of Sharpay.

Gabriella was clinging on to Ryan. She had brought her mom too, which was out of respect. Mrs. Montez didn't know Sharpay at all, but she knew how important she had been to her daughter. Taylor and Chad was holding on to one another too. They were both crying, yes, Chad was crying.

Troy was seated between his parents, his mother's protective arm around his shoulders. They were all sad, not that his parents really knew her. His dad had seen her at school, and watched her in her musicals, and his mom had met her at the hospital.

And they knew just how much their son loved her.

"… she was very talented, and loved by everyone. Her friends were sure that she would grow up to be something huge. A lot meant that she would end up on Broadway, and she had the talent. She has starred in 17 school productions, making wonders in each one of them." The vicar said, "Her joyful mood was loved by her friends, and of course her boyfriend, whom she spend a lot of time with, especially right before she died." He paused and locked eyes with Becca, "And now, I believe, that Gabriella, Ryan, Troy and Brooke has something they would like to sing for Sharpay; as their last words to her."

Gabriella grabbed Brooke's hand, and followed Ryan and Troy up to the front of the church, right behind the white casket, which was beautifully covered with red roses, and wreaths.

Ryan took a deep breath, he had to say something before they… did their thing; "This is in the memory of a dear sister, friend, girlfriend and aunt, from all four of us." He paused, and looked at Gabriella.

The soft music from the piano started, and Gabriella took a deep breath; starting their big send off…

"_Broken skies, heartaches that flowers won't mend  
Say goodbye knowing that this is the end  
Tender dreams, shadows fall  
Love too sweet, to recall  
Dry your eyes, face the dawn  
Life will go on_"

Troy looked at her, and started his part;

"_All day long thought that we still had a chance  
Letting go, this is the end of romance  
Broken hearts find your way  
Make it through just this day  
Face the world on your own  
Life will go on, life will go on_"

Little Brooke took a good hold on Gabriella's hand, squeezing it hard. No-one had really heard her sing that much before, since she was so young, but she had the same talent as Sharpay… as well as a lot of her beauty.

"_There'll be blue skies, every true love  
Someday I'll hold you again  
They'll be blue skies in a better world, darlin'_"

Ryan took a breath and started the last part of the song…

"_Tender dreams, shadows fall  
Love too sweet, to recall  
Dry your eyes, face the dawn  
Life will go on, life will go on  
Broken heart find your way  
Make it through just this day  
Face the world on your own  
Life will go on_"

The church was silent, and the 4 people took their seats again. The vicar spoke the last of his words, and then they were heading out of the church. Matt, and 5 other guys, each took a handle of the casket, and the rest of the guests followed them outside, and watched as the white casket was being lifted into the black car.

They cried as they watched it drive off.

--

Troy made his way through the graveyard, keeping his eyes on the special heart shaped gravestone, that he was going to visit. He quickly got there, holding the flowers tight in his hands. They were roses – as always. Red for love, and yellow for friendship.

As he got there, he kneed down in front of the gravestone, looking at it. He placed his flowers on the ground, taking in the burial plot in general. Fresh flowers were lying all over the place, he knew that people went there everyday, people still cared that much, though it had been a month.

They had started to move on already, of course they had. They all had lives they needed to carry on, to live, but he still couldn't seem to let go. He still missed her so much, he still loved her so much.

He ran his fingers over the inscription in the gravestone, letting a single tear slip. He'd almost stopped crying now. He'd almost gotten used to not seeing her everyday. But yesterday, Gabriella and Ryan had been in the musical, the first show, and it had brought back memories of what used to be the shows at East High.

Sharpay wasn't a part of it this time…

He let his finger rest on the S in her name, as his eyes wandered over the inscription once again.

_Sharpay Evans _

_February 12, 1991 – March 07, 2007. _

_We will miss you.

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_

_There! I'm done ;p I hope you liked the last chapter, it wasn't really needed, but I promised a friend that I'd do like… a ´funeral´ chapter, as she said, and yeah… I hope you liked the ending on my fic. I'll thank you so much for reading this, and then ask you to review one last time, please? It'll mean so much to me xD_

_A word from the lovely Friends;_

_**Chandler:** So, uh, how often can you do it?_

_**Carol:** As much as he needs._

_**Joey:** Ok, I got one, I got one. Uh, if he blows into one, does the other one get bigger?_

_Lol, I hope to talk to some of you during other stories or something… I'd love it if you'd read my other story, "Forbidden Beauty" and review it, if you haven't. **Tootles **;p_


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